[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 44670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11147]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM93-11-000]


Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992; Notice of Annual Change in the Producer Price Index 
for Finished Goods

    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The Commission bases the 
index system, found at 18 CFR 342.3, on the annual change in the 
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG), minus point two one 
percent (PPI-FG-0.21%). The Commission determined in the January 2022 
Order \1\ that PPI-FG-0.21% is the appropriate oil pricing index factor 
for pipelines to use for this period.
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    \1\ Five-Year Rev. of the Oil Pipeline Index, 178 FERC ] 61,023, 
at P 105 (January 2022 Order), reh'g denied, 179 FERC ] 61,100 
(2022).
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    The regulations provide that the Commission will publish annually 
an index figure reflecting the final change in the PPI-FG after the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the final PPI-FG in May of each 
calendar year. The annual average PPI-FG index figures were 250.9 for 
2022 and 254.6 for 2023.\2\ Thus, the percent change (expressed as a 
decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 2022 to 2023, minus 0.21 
percent, is positive 0.012647.\3\ Oil pipelines must multiply their 
July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, index ceiling levels \4\ by 
positive 1.012647 \5\ to compute their index ceiling levels for July 1, 
2024, through June 30, 2025, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For 
guidance in calculating the ceiling levels for each 12-month period 
beginning January 1, 1995,\6\ see Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC ] 
61,416, at n.6 (1995).
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    \2\ Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the final figure 
in mid-May of each year. This figure is publicly available from the 
Division of Industrial Prices and Price Indexes of the BLS, at 202-
691-7705, and in print in August in Table 1 of the annual data 
supplement to the BLS publication Producer Price Indexes via the 
internet at http://www.bls.gov. To obtain the BLS data, scroll down 
to ``Data Tools'' and click on ``BLS Popular Series.'' At the next 
screen, under the heading ``Price Indexes,'' select the box, ``PPI 
Finished Goods 1982=100 (Unadjusted)-WPUFD49207,'' then scroll to 
the bottom of this screen and click on Retrieve data.
    \3\ [254.6-250.9]/250.9 = 0.014747-0.0021 = 0.012647.
    \4\ See January 2022 Order, 178 FERC ] 61,023, reh'g denied, 179 
FERC ] 61,100; see also Revisions to Oil Pipeline Reguls. Pursuant 
to the Energy Pol'y Act of 1992, 178 FERC ] 61,046 (2022).
    \5\ 1 + 0.012647 = 1.012647.
    \6\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's website, https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/oil/general-information/oil-pipeline-index.
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    In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov). From 
the Commission's Home Page on the internet, this information is 
available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on 
eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or 
downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket 
number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket 
number field.
    User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
website during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at 202-
502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at 
[email protected], or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202)502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at 
[email protected].

    Dated: May 15, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-11147 Filed 5-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P