United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1993-11-08 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:RCED-94-11 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11 P0b002ee18037b0e6 f:rc94011 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11 RCED-94-11 Cost effectiveness analysis Natural gas Gas pipeline operations Fossil fuels Energy costs Fuel supplies Price regulation Transportation rates Transportation operations Independent regulatory commissions Letter Report RCED The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Order 636 is intended to spur development of a more open and accessible pipeline system for buyers and sellers of natural gas. The order requires many interstate pipeline companies to offer their customers transportation, storage, and other services separately or as part of a "bundled" package by the 1993 winter heating season. The pipeline companies will be able to recover from their customers the costs that can be directly attributed to the new regulation as long as FERC determines that these costs were prudently incurred. Order 636 changes how FERC sets the pipeline transportation rates. Under the new rate design, customers requiring uninterrupted service--mainly local distribution companies serving residential or commercial users--will pay more of the pipeline companies' fixed costs. Customers that can tolerate "interruptible" service, such as manufacturers of fertilizer or glass, could end up paying less. In response to congressional concerns about the effect of Order 636 on consumers' gas bills, this report (1) estimates the potential shift in fixed costs among pipeline consumers resulting from the changes in the way that transportation rates are designed, (2) reports the pipeline companies' estimates of the transition costs of implementing the new rule, and (3) summarizes available information on the benefits of the new order and the costs and benefits arising from changes in the law and FERC regulations since 1978. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11.htm GAO/RCED-94-11 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-11 Letter Report GAO/RCED-94-11; Natural Gas: Costs, Benefits, and Concerns Related to FERC's Order 636; Cost effectiveness analysis Natural gas Gas pipeline operations Fossil fuels Energy costs Fuel supplies Price regulation Transportation rates Transportation operations Independent regulatory commissions