166 FERC ¶ 61,198

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Before Commissioners: Neil Chatterjee, Chairman;

 Cheryl A. LaFleur and Richard Glick.

 

Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P.

Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.

Cimarron River Pipeline, LLC

Colorado Interstate Gas Company, L.L.C.

Crossroads Pipeline Company

Dauphin Island Gathering Partners

DBM Pipeline, LLC

Destin Pipeline Company, L.L.C.

Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC

Florida Southeast Connection, LLC

Golden Pass Pipeline LLC

Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC

Kinder Morgan Illinois Pipeline LLC

Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline LLC

KO Transmission Company

MarkWest Pioneer, L.L.C.

Midcontinent Express Pipeline LLC

Mojave Pipeline Company, L.L.C.

National Grid LNG, LLC

NGO Transmission, Inc.

Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC

Rover Pipeline LLC

Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C.

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC

Sabine Pipe Line LLC

Sea Robin Pipeline Company, LLC

Sierrita Gas Pipeline LLC

Stingray Pipeline Company, L.L.C.

TransColorado Gas Transmission Company LLC

Trans-Union Interstate Pipeline, L.P.

 Docket Nos. RP19-417-000

RP19-430-000

RP19-415-000

RP19-413-000

RP19-410-000

RP19-435-000

RP19-397-000

RP19-434-000

RP19-402-000

RP19-440-000

RP19-387-000

RP19-432-000

RP19-393-000

RP19-390-000

RP19-433-000

RP19-396-000

RP19-392-000

RP19-404-000

RP19-421-000

RP19-418-000

RP19-424-000

RP19-412-000

RP19-422-000

RP19-428-000

RP19-444-000

RP19-448-000

RP19-394-000

RP19-425-000

RP19-378-000

RP19-426-000

RP19-438-000

RP19-450-000
Docket No. RP19-417-000, et al. - 2 -

Transwestern Pipeline Company, LLC

UGI Mt. Bethel Pipeline, LLC

UGI Sunbury, LLC

USG Pipeline Company, LLC

Venice Gathering System, L.L.C.

West Texas Gas, Inc.

WTG Hugoton, LP

RP19-407-000

RP19-461-000

RP19-461-001

RP19-462-000

RP19-462-001

RP19-383-000

RP19-436-000

RP19-442-000

RP19-442-001

RP19-441-000

RP19-441-001

ORDER TERMINATING FERC FORM NO. 501-G PROCEEDINGS

(Issued March 20, 2019)

1. The interstate natural gas pipeline companies listed above filed the one-time report 

FERC Form No. 501-G as required by section 260.402 of the Commission’s regulations. 0F

1

 

The Commission required certain natural gas pipeline companies to file FERC Form 

No. 501-G to assist in determining which jurisdictional natural gas pipelines may be 

collecting unjust and unreasonable rates in light of the income tax reductions provided 

by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act1 F

2 and the Commission’s Revised Policy Statement2 F3 and 

precedent3 F

4 concerning tax allowances to address the double recovery issue identified 

by United Airlines, Inc. v. FERC.4 F

5

 For the reasons discussed below, we find that the 

interstate natural gas pipeline companies listed above have complied with the reporting 

 1 18 C.F.R. § 260.402 (2018).

2 An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent 

resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-97, 131 Stat. 2054 (2017) 

(Tax Cuts and Jobs Act).

3 Inquiry Regarding the Commission’s Policy for Recovery of Income Tax Costs, 

Revised Policy Statement, 83 Fed. Reg. 12,362 (Mar. 21, 2018), 162 FERC ¶ 61,227, 

order on reh’g, 164 FERC ¶ 61,030 (2018).

4 SFPP, L.P., Opinion No. 511-C, 162 FERC ¶ 61,228, at P 9 (2018).

5 827 F.3d 122 (D.C. Cir. 2016). 
Docket No. RP19-417-000, et al. - 3 -

requirement, and thus we close their FERC Form No. 501-G proceedings without taking 

any further action.

2. Public notice of the listed companies’ FERC Form No. 501-G filings was

issued as shown in the Appendix. Interventions and protests were due as provided 

in section 154.210 of the Commission’s regulations.5 F

6

 Pursuant to Rule 214,6 F

7 all timely 

motions to intervene and any unopposed motions to intervene filed out-of-time before 

the issuance date of this order are granted. Granting late intervention at this stage of the 

proceedings will not disrupt these proceedings or place additional burdens on existing 

parties. 

Discussion

3. Order No. 849 required interstate natural gas pipeline companies to file a FERC 

Form No. 501-G containing an abbreviated cost and revenue study primarily using data 

in the pipelines’ 2017 FERC Form Nos. 2 and 2-A. Order No. 849 also permitted a 

pipeline to make adjustments to individual work sheets in an Addendum to the FERC 

Form No. 501-G if the pipeline believed that the data in its FERC Form Nos. 2 or 2-A 

did not reflect its current situation.7F

8

 In addition to the FERC Form No. 501-G filing 

requirement, the Commission provided four options for each interstate natural gas 

pipeline to make a filing to address the changes to the pipeline’s recovery of tax costs or 

explain why no action is needed: (1) a limited Natural Gas Act (NGA) section 4 rate 

reduction filing (Option 1), (2) a commitment to file a general NGA section 4 rate case or 

a prepackaged settlement in the near future (Option 2), (3) an explanation why no rate 

change is needed (Option 3), and (4) no action other than filing the form (Option 4). 

4. Order No. 849 stated that the primary purpose of the FERC Form No. 501-G, 

together with any comments and protests to it, is to provide information relevant to 

determining whether the Commission should exercise its discretion to initiate an 

investigation under NGA section 5 as to whether the subject interstate natural gas 

pipeline may be collecting unjust and unreasonable rates in light of the recent reduction 

in the corporate income tax rate and change in the Commission’s income tax allowance 

 6 18 C.F.R. § 154.210 (2018).

7 18 C.F.R. § 385.214 (2018).

8 Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas Pipelines; Rate Changes Relating to 

Federal Income Tax Rate, Order No. 849, 83 Fed. Reg. 36,672 (July 30, 2018), 

164 FERC ¶ 61,031, at P 58 (2018).
Docket No. RP19-417-000, et al. - 4 -

policies.8 F

9

 As the Commission recognized, a rate reduction may not be justified for a 

significant number of pipelines for a number of reasons. For example, a number of 

pipelines may currently have rates that do not fully recover their overall cost of service. 

Therefore, a reduction in those pipelines’ tax costs may not cause their rates to be 

excessive. The Commission stated that FERC Form No. 501-G would provide 

information as to whether an interstate pipeline may fall into this category. The 

Commission stated that a pipeline choosing Option 3 could provide a full explanation 

of why, after accounting for its reduction in tax costs, its rates do not over recover its 

overall cost of service and therefore no rate reduction is justified. The pipeline would 

provide this statement along with any additional supporting information it deems 

necessary.9 F

10 

5. The interstate natural gas pipeline companies listed above have either filed

a general NGA section 4 rate case (Option 2), provided explanations as to why no 

rate change is necessary (Option 3), or done nothing beyond filing the FERC Form 

No. 501-G (Option 4), as described in the Appendix, and no party filed adverse 

comments with respect to their FERC Form No. 501-G filings. We find that those 

pipelines have complied with the filing requirements of Order No. 849, and terminate 

their FERC Form No. 501-G proceedings without taking any further action.

The Commission orders: 

The captioned FERC Form No. 501-G proceedings are terminated.

By the Commission. Commissioner McNamee is not participating. 

( S E A L )

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.

 9 Id. P 69.

10 Id. P 216.
Docket No. RP19-417-000, et al. - 5 -

Appendix

Notice Dates and Pipelines’ Chosen Response Option

Company Docket No. Notice Date Option

Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P. RP19-417-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline

Company, L.L.C.

RP19-430-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Cimarron River Pipeline, LLC RP19-415-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Colorado Interstate Gas Company, 

L.L.C.

RP19-413-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Crossroads Pipeline Company RP19-410-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Dauphin Island Gathering Partners RP19-435-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

DBM Pipeline, LLC RP19-397-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Destin Pipeline Company, L.L.C. RP19-434-000 Dec. 7, 2018 4

Florida Gas Transmission Company, 

LLC

RP19-402-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Florida Southeast Connection, LLC RP19-444-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Golden Pass Pipeline LLC RP19-387-000 Dec. 6, 2018 3

Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company

LLC

RP19-432-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Kinder Morgan Illinois Pipeline LLC RP19-393-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline 

LLC

RP19-390-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

KO Transmission Company RP19-433-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

MarkWest Pioneer, L.L.C. RP19-396-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Midcontinent Express Pipeline LLC RP19-392-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Mojave Pipeline Company, L.L.C. RP19-404-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

National Grid LNG, LLC RP19-421-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

NGO Transmission, Inc. RP19-418-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC RP19-424-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC RP19-412-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Rover Pipeline LLC RP19-422-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C. RP19-428-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC RP19-444-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Sabine Pipe Line LLC RP19-448-000 Dec. 10, 2018 3

Sea Robin Pipeline Company RP19-394-000 Dec. 7, 2018 2

Sierrita Gas Pipeline LLC RP19-425-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Stingray Pipeline Company, L.L.C. RP19-378-000 Dec. 4, 2018 3

TransColorado Gas Transmission 

Company LLC

RP19-426-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

Trans-Union Interstate Pipeline, L.P. RP19-438-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3
Docket No. RP19-417-000, et al. - 6 -

RP19-450-000 Dec. 10, 2018

Transwestern Pipeline Company, 

LLC

RP19-407-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

UGI Mt. Bethel Pipeline, LLC RP19-461-000

RP19-461-001

Dec. 17, 2018

Dec. 21, 2018

3

UGI Sunbury, LLC RP19-462-000

RP19-462-001

Dec. 17, 2018

Dec. 21, 2018

3

USG Pipeline Company, LLC RP19-383-000 Dec. 6, 2018 4

Venice Gathering System, L.L.C. RP19-436-000 Dec. 7, 2018 3

West Texas Gas, Inc. RP19-442-000

RP19-442-001

Dec. 7, 2018

Dec. 19, 2018

3

WTG Hugoton, LP RP19-441-000

RP19-441-001

Dec. 7, 2018

Dec. 19, 2018

3