133 FERC ¶ 61,216 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 284 

[Docket No. RM09-2-001; Order No. 735-A] 

Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas Companies 

(Issued December 16, 2010) 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Order on Rehearing. 

SUMMARY: In this Order on Rehearing, the Commission addresses pending requests to 

reconsider or clarify Order No. 735, in which it reformed its reporting requirements and 

instituted Form No. 549D – Quarterly Transportation and Storage Report for Intrastate 

Natural Gas and Hinshaw Pipelines. Order No. 735-A generally reaffirms the Final Rule. 

It also retracts the increased requirements for contract end dates and per-customer 

revenue, extends the filing deadlines from 30 days to 60 days after each reporting quarter, 

and offers clarification on several matters. Simultaneously with this order, the 

Commission is issuing a Notice of Inquiry under a separate docket to explore reforms to 

the semi-annual storage reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate storage 

companies. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: The revisions made in this Order on Rehearing, as in the previous 

Final Rule, will become effective April 1, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 2 - 

Vince Mareino (Legal Information) 

Office of the General Counsel 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-6167 

Vince.Mareino@ferc.gov 

James Sarikas (Technical Information) 

Office of Energy Markets Regulation 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-6831 

James.Sarikas@ferc.gov 

Thomas Russo (Technical Information) 

Office of Enforcement 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-8792 

Thomas.Russo@ferc.gov 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural 

Gas Companies 

Docket No. RM09-2-001 

ORDER NO. 735-A 

ORDER ON REHEARING 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paragraph Numbers

I. Background ............................................................................................................................3.

II. Discussion.............................................................................................................................15.

A. Changes to the Quarterly Reporting Requirement...........................................................17.

1. Interruptible Contract End-Dates..................................................................................17.

2. Customer Revenues ......................................................................................................20.

3. Quarterly Reporting Deadlines.....................................................................................24.

B. Justification for Increased Transparency Required by the Rule ......................................26.

1. Statutory Authority to Require Public Disclosure .......................................................31.

2. Harm to Storage Providers with Market-based Rates ..................................................39.

3. Evidence .......................................................................................................................48.

4. Insufficiency of Periodic Rate Review.........................................................................58.

5. Burden...........................................................................................................................61.

C. Identification of Receipt Points........................................................................................64.

D. Identification of Shippers.................................................................................................67.

E. Prior Period Adjustment and Inactive Contracts ..............................................................70.

F. Semi-Annual Storage Report............................................................................................74.

G. Effective Date and Technical Workshop .........................................................................77.

III. Information Collection Statement .......................................................................................79.

IV. Environmental Analysis ......................................................................................................82.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act ....................................................................................................83.

VI. Document Availability ........................................................................................................84.

VII. Effective Date ....................................................................................................................87.
 

133 FERC ¶ 61,216 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; 

 Marc Spitzer, Philip D. Moeller, 

 John R. Norris, and Cheryl A. LaFleur. 

Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural 

Gas Companies 

Docket No. RM09-2-001 

ORDER NO. 735-A 

ORDER ON REHEARING 

(Issued December 16, 2010) 

1. On May 20, 2010, the Commission issued Order No. 735,1

 revising the contract 

reporting requirements for (1) intrastate natural gas pipelines2

 providing interstate 

transportation service pursuant to pursuant to section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act 

of 1978 (NGPA)3

 and (2) Hinshaw pipelines providing interstate service subject to the 

Commission’s Natural Gas Act (NGA) section 1(c) jurisdiction pursuant to blanket 

1 Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas Companies, Order 

No. 735, 75 FR 29404, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 (2010) (Order No. 735 or Final 

Rule). 

2

 Under section 2(16) of the NGPA, 15 U.S.C. 3301(16), the term “intrastate 

pipeline” may refer to all entities engaged in natural gas transportation under section 311 

of the NGPA or section 1(c) of the NGA. For consistency, this Final Rule will also use 

the terms “transportation,” “pipeline,” and “shippers” to refer inclusively to storage 

activity (except where noted). 

3

 15 U.S.C. 3372. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 2 - 

 

certificates issued under § 284.224 of the Commission’s regulations.4

 Order No. 735 

sought to bring the less stringent transactional reporting requirements for section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines closer in line with the reporting requirements for interstate pipelines, 

without imposing unduly burdensome requirements on the pipelines. Specifically, Order 

No. 735 revised § 284.126(b) of the Commission’s regulations and replaced Form 

No. 549 – Intrastate Pipeline Annual Transportation Report with the new Form 

No. 549D, so as to (1) increase the reporting frequency from annual to quarterly, 

(2) include certain additional types of information and cover storage transactions as well 

as transportation transactions,5

 (3) establish a procedure for Form No. 549D to be filed in 

a uniform electronic format and posted on the Commission’s web site, and (4) hold that 

those reports must be public and may not be filed with information redacted as 

privileged. Order No. 735 also modified Commission policy concerning periodic reviews 

4

 Section 1(c) of the NGA exempts from the Commission’s NGA jurisdiction 

those pipelines which transport gas in interstate commerce if (1) they receive natural gas 

at or within the boundary of a state, (2) all the gas is consumed within that state, and 

(3) the pipeline is regulated by a state Commission. This exemption is referred to as the 

Hinshaw exemption after the Congressman who introduced the bill amending the NGA to 

include section 1(c). See ANR Pipeline Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 

71 F.3d 897, 898 (1995) (briefly summarizing the history of the Hinshaw exemption). 

5

 This Final Rule does not eliminate or revise 18 CFR 284.126(c) and the 

corresponding Form No. 537, which require a semi-annual storage report. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 3 - 

of the rates charged by section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to extend the cycle for such 

reviews from 3 years to 5 years. 

2. In this order, the Commission addresses requests for rehearing or clarification of 

Order No. 735. Five requests for rehearing or clarification of Order No. 735 were timely 

filed, by Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation (AOG), Enstor Operating Company, LLC 

(Enstor), Enogex LLC (Enogex), Jefferson Island Storage & Hub, L.L.C. (Jefferson), and 

the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA). As discussed below, we largely affirm Order 

No. 735, granting a limited number of rehearing requests and clarifying the order.6

I. Background

3. NGPA section 311 authorizes the Commission to allow intrastate pipelines to 

transport natural gas “on behalf of” interstate pipelines or local distribution companies 

served by interstate pipelines “under such terms and conditions as the Commission may 

prescribe.”7

 NGPA section 601(a)(2) exempts transportation service authorized under 

NGPA section 311 from the Commission’s NGA jurisdiction. Congress adopted these 

provisions in order to eliminate the regulatory barriers between the intrastate and 

 6

 The Appendix to this order includes a static PDF version of the draft revised 

Form No. 549D. The Appendix will not be included in the Federal Register, but is 

available on the Commission’s eLibrary site. The draft revised form is being submitted 

to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. 

7

 15 U.S.C. 3371(c). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 4 - 

 

interstate markets and to promote the entry of intrastate pipelines into the interstate 

market. After the adoption of the NGPA, the Commission authorized Hinshaw pipelines 

to apply for NGA section 7 certificates, authorizing them to transport natural gas in 

interstate commerce in the same manner as intrastate pipelines may do under NGPA 

section 311.8

4. Subpart C of the Commission’s Part 284 open access regulations (18 CFR 

284.121-126) implements the provisions of NGPA section 311 concerning transportation 

by intrastate pipelines. Those regulations require that intrastate pipelines performing 

interstate service under NGPA section 311 must do so on an open access basis.9

 

However, as described in Order No. 735, the Commission has not imposed on intrastate 

pipelines all of the Part 284 open access transportation requirements imposed on 

interstate pipelines, consistent with the NGPA’s goal of encouraging intrastate pipelines 

to provide interstate service.10 Thus, the Commission does not require intrastate 

8 Certain Transportation, Sales, and Assignments by Pipeline Companies not 

Subject to Commission Jurisdiction Under Section 1(c) of the Natural Gas Act, Order 

No. 63, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,118, at 30,824-25 (1980). 

9 See 18 CFR 284.7(b), 284.9(b), and 284.122. 

10 See Associated Gas Distributors v. FERC, 824 F.2d 981, 1002-1003 (D.C. Cir. 

1987) (Associated Gas Distributors); Mustang Energy Corp. v. Federal Energy 

Regulatory Comm’n, 859 F.2d 1447, 1457 (10th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1019 

(1988); see also EPGT Texas Pipeline, 99 FERC ¶ 61,295 (2002). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 5 - 

No. 

nts 

it 

. 

 

pipelines to offer firm open access service, or comply with the requirements of Order 

636, such as capacity release and flexible receipt and delivery points.11 Section 284.224 

of the Commission’s regulations provides for the issuance of blanket certificates to 

Hinshaw pipelines to provide open access transportation service “to the same extent that, 

and in the same manner” as intrastate pipelines are authorized to perform such service by 

Subpart C. 

5. The Commission currently has less stringent transactional reporting requireme

for NGPA section 311 intrastate pipelines and Hinshaw pipelines, than for interstate 

pipelines. In Order No. 637,12 the Commission revised the reporting requirements for 

interstate pipelines in order to provide more transparent pricing information and to perm

more effective monitoring for the exercise of market power and undue discrimination

11 Pipeline Service Obligations, and Revisions to Regulations Governing SelfImplementing Transportation Under Part 284 of the Commission’s Regulations; 

Regulation of Natural Gas Pipelines After Partial Wellhead Decontrol, Order No. 636-B, 

61 FERC ¶ 61,272, at 61,992 n.26 (1992), order on reh’g, 62 FERC ¶ 61,007 (1993), 

aff’d in part and remanded in part sub nom. United Distribution Cos. v. FERC, 88 F.3d 

1105 (D.C. Cir. 1996), order on remand, Order No. 636-C, 78 FERC ¶ 61,186 (1997). 

12 Regulation of Short-Term Natural Gas Transportation Services and Regulation 

of Interstate Natural Gas Transportation Services, Order No. 637, FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,091, clarified, Order No. 637-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,099, reh’g denied, Order 

No. 637-B, 92 FERC ¶ 61,062 (2000), aff’d in part and remanded in part sub nom. 

Interstate Natural Gas Ass’n of America v. FERC, 285 F.3d 18 (D.C. Cir. 2002), order on 

remand, 101 FERC ¶ 61,127 (2002), order on reh’g, 106 FERC ¶ 61,088 (2004), aff’d 

sub nom. American Gas Ass’n v. FERC, 428 F.3d 255 (D.C. Cir. 2005). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 6 - 

uires 

rs, no later than the first 

nom formation includes: 

(for firm service) 

ones covered 

eviations from the tariff 

drawn from 

rder 

As adopted by Order No. 637, § 284.13(b) of the Commission’s regulations req

interstate pipelines to post on their internet websites basic information on each 

transportation and storage transaction with individual shippe

ination under a transaction. This in

 The name of the shipper 

 The contract number 

 The rate charged 

 The maximum rate 

 The duration (for firm service) 

 The receipt and delivery points and z

 The quantity of natural gas covered 

 Any special terms or details, such as any d

 Whether any affiliate relationship exists. 

6. In addition, § 284.13(e) of the Commission’s regulations requires interstate 

pipelines to file semi-annual reports of their storage injection and withdrawal activities, 

including the identities of the customers, the volumes injected into and with

storage for each customer and the unit charge and total revenues received. 

7. The Commission has not imposed any daily transactional posting requirement on 

section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines comparable to the daily posting requirement in O

No. 637. Until Order No. 735, § 284.126(b) of the Commission’s regulations only 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 7 - 

h 

n, excluding storage transactions. Those reports included the following 

information: 

 for firm service a 

irm service a 

er 

ns, or whether there is an affiliate 

tate 

ivity, 

quirement that interstate 

pipelines file such semi-annual reports of their storage activity. 

required intrastate pipelines to file annual reports of their transportation transactions wit

the Commissio

 The name of the shipper receiving transportation service 

 The type of service performed (i.e. firm or interruptible) 

 The total volumes transported for the shipper, including

separate statement of reservation and usage quantities 

 Total revenues received for the shipper, including for f

separate statement of reservation and usage revenues. 

8. Unlike the interstate pipelines’ transactional posting requirements adopted by 

Order No. 637, § 284.126(b) of the Commission’s regulations did not require intrastate 

pipelines to report the rate charged under each contract, the duration of the contract, the 

receipt and delivery points, and the zones or segments covered by each contract, wheth

the contract includes any special terms and conditio

relationship between the pipeline and the shipper. 

9. Section 284.126(c) of the Commission’s regulations requires section 311 intras

pipelines and Hinshaw pipelines to file a semi-annual report of their storage act

within 30 days of the end of each complete storage and injection season. This 

requirement is substantially the same as the 18 CFR 284.13(e) re
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 8 - 

 

10. In November 2008, the Commission denied a request by SG Resources 

Mississippi, L.L.C. (SGRM), an interstate storage provider with market-based rates, for 

waiver of the Order No. 637 requirements that interstate pipelines post the rates charged 

in each transaction no later than first nomination for service. SGRM contended that the 

Order No. 637 daily posting requirements placed market-based rate interstate storage 

providers at a competitive disadvantage with market-based rate NGPA section 311 

intrastate storage providers, who were subject only to semi-annual storage and annual 

transportation reporting requirements. The Commission held that the interstate pipeline 

posting requirements are necessary to provide shippers with the price transparency they 

need to make informed decisions, and the ability to monitor transactions for undue 

discrimination and preference.13 The Commission also found that the requested 

exemption would be contrary to NGA section 4(c)’s requirement that “every natural gas 

company . . . keep open . . . for public inspection . . . all rates.”14 

11. However, simultaneously with the denial of SGRM’s waiver request, the 

Commission commenced this proceeding with a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in order to 

explore (1) whether the disparate reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate 

pipelines have an adverse competitive effect on the interstate pipelines and (2) if so, 

13 SG Resources Mississippi, L.L.C., 125 FERC ¶ 61,191 (2008) (SGRM). 

14 15 U.S.C. 717c(c). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 9 - 

 

whether the Commission should modify the reporting requirements for section 311 

intrastate pipelines and Hinshaw pipelines in order to make them more comparable to the 

18 CFR 284.13(b) posting requirements for interstate pipelines.15 Based upon the 

comments received in response to the NOI, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NOPR),16 proposing to revise its transactional reporting requirements for 

intrastate pipelines. The Commission determined not to impose the full interstate 

pipeline daily transactional positing requirements on section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines. 

The Commission was concerned that the burden of a daily internet posting requirement 

could discourage section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines from performing interstate service, 

contrary to the purpose of the NGPA. In addition, it did not appear from the comments 

that there was widespread concern among interstate pipelines that foregoing a daily 

posting requirement would cause significant adverse competitive effects. However, the 

Commission proposed increased transactional reporting requirements for section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines in order to provide shippers and the Commission with more timely 

and useful information concerning the transactions entered into by section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines. 

15 Contract Reporting Requirement of Intrastate Natural Gas Companies, FERC 

Stats. & Regs. ¶ 35,559 (2008) (NOI). 

16 Contract Reporting Requirements of Intrastate Natural Gas Companies, FERC 

Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,644 (2009) (NOPR). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 10 - 

12. As adopted by Order No. 735, the increased transactional reporting requirements 

for section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines are as follows. First, the Commission modified 

the existing 18 CFR 284.126(b) annual transportation reporting requirement to require 

section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to make the report on a quarterly basis. Second, the 

Commission required that the reports cover storage transactions as well as transportation 

transactions. Third, Order No. 735 required that the reports must contain the following 

information on each transaction, aggregated by contract: 

i. The full legal name, and identification number, of the shipper 

receiving the service, including whether there is an affiliate 

relationship between the pipeline and the shipper; 

ii. The type of service performed (i.e., firm or interruptible 

transportation, storage, or other service); 

iii. The rate charged under each contract, specifying the rate 

schedule/name of service and docket where the rates were approved. 

The report should separately state each rate component set forth in 

the contract (i.e., reservation, usage, and any other charges); 

iv. The primary receipt and delivery points covered by the contract, 

identified by the list of points that the pipeline has published with 

the Commission, which shall include the industry common code for 

each point where one has already been established; 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 11 - 

v. The quantity of natural gas the shipper is entitled to transport, store, 

or deliver under each contract; 

vi. The duration of the contract, specifying the beginning and ending 

month and year of the current agreement; 

vii. Total volumes transported, stored, injected, or withdrawn for the 

shipper; and 

viii. Total revenues received for the shipper. The report should 

separately state revenues received under each rate component. 

13. Finally, Order No. 735 established a procedure for the Form No. 549D reports to 

be filed in a uniform electronic format and posted on the Commission’s web site, and 

held that those reports must be public and may not be filed with information redacted as 

privileged. The Commission found that these transactional reporting requirements 

appropriately balanced the need for increased transparency of section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipeline transactions, while avoiding unduly burdensome requirements that might 

discourage such pipelines from participating in the interstate market. 

14. While Order No. 735 revised the 18 CFR 284.126(b) report to include storage 

transactions, the Commission continued to require section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to 

make the semi-annual storage activity reports currently required by § 284.126(c) of the 

Commission’s regulations. The Commission explained in the NOPR that those reports 

included information that is not contained in the proposed quarterly transactional reports. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 12 - 

Specifically, § 284.126(c) of the Commission’s regulations requires section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines to report total volumes injected into storage during each complete 

storage injection season and total volumes withdrawn from storage during each complete 

storage withdrawal season. Such seasonal information is not captured by the new 

18 CFR 284.126(b) quarterly transactional reports, because those reports do not correlate 

with the typical five-month withdrawal and seven-month injection seasons. The 

Commission also stated that retaining the 18 CFR 284.126(c) semi-annual storage 

activity report for section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines is consistent with the Commission’s 

existing requirement, in § 284.13(e) of the Commission’s regulations, that interstate 

pipelines also make such semi-annual storage activity reports in addition to posting 

transactional information pursuant to § 284.13(c) of the Commission’s regulations. 

II. Discussion

15. For the reasons discussed below, the Commission generally denies rehearing of 

Order No. 735. However, the Commission does grant rehearing in several respects. 

First, the Commission removes the requirement that the new quarterly reports include the 

contract end-date for interruptible transactions. Second, the Commission eliminates the 

increased per-customer revenue reporting requirements by requiring such revenues to be 

reported only on an annual basis and excluding storage revenues from the report. Third, 

the Commission extends the deadline for submitting the quarterly reports from 

approximately 30 days after the end of the quarter to 60 days. With these modifications, 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 13 - 

the Commission reaffirms all other aspects of Order No. 735, including the requirements 

that the quarterly reports be filed in a uniform electronic format with no information 

redacted as privileged and be posted on the Commission’s web site. Contemporaneously 

with this order, the Commission is also issuing an NOI in Docket No. RM11-4-000 to 

consider issues related the existing semi-annual storage reporting requirement for both 

interstate pipelines and section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines. 

16. Below, we first discuss the modifications to Order No. 735 we are making on 

rehearing. We then turn to the other objections to Order No. 735. 

A. Changes to the Quarterly Reporting Requirement

1. Interruptible Contract End-Dates

17. Section 284.126(b)(1)(vi) of the Commission’s regulations, as adopted by Order 

No. 735, requires that section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines include in their quarterly 

transactional reports the duration of each active contract for both firm and interruptible 

service, including the beginning and ending date. Before Order No. 735, 18 CFR 

284.126(b) did not require this information from intrastate pipelines. Currently 18 CFR 

284.13(b)(1)(v) requires interstate pipelines to post the duration of firm contracts but 

18 CFR 284.13(b)(2) has no similar requirement to post the duration of interruptible 

contracts. In addition, 18 CFR 284.13(c)(2)(iv) requires interstate pipelines to report the 

effective and expiration dates for firm transportation and storage contracts quarterly as 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 14 - 

 

part of their Index of Customers, but not for interruptible contracts.17 Neither the 

interstate nor intrastate semi-annual storage reports require this information. 

18. On rehearing, Enstor objects to the requirement that section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipelines reveal the ending dates of their interruptible storage contracts, including 

contracts for park and loan service. Enstor states that it enters into separate contracts for 

each interruptible transaction and that the end date of those transactions is commercially 

sensitive. Despite the time lag between the execution of a contract and its ultimate 

disclosure in a quarterly report, the ending date of an interruptible transaction may still be 

in the future when the quarterly report is filed. Enstor states that knowledge of the 

forward month when a parking or lending transaction will end will enable other market 

participants to recreate the storage position of individual Enstor customers. Enstor states 

that, as a result, a potential storage customer interested in a short-term parking 

arrangement customer will be able to “lowball” Enstor based on its knowledge of 

Enstor’s inventory and pricing information. Enstor argues that requiring market-based 

intrastate pipelines to reveal this information, while not imposing a similar requirement 

on interstate pipelines, results in unduly disparate treatment of the two types of 

17 18 CFR 284.13 (c)(2)(iv) (2010, prior to effective date of Order No. 735). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 15 - 

 

pipelines.18 Enstor urges the Commission to remove the requirement to report the enddate of interruptible transactions in order to maintain its policy in Order No. 735 of 

equalizing NGA and section 311/Hinshaw reporting requirements. Enogex makes a 

similar argument from a theoretical perspective, arguing that the expansion of the 

reporting requirements would indirectly impose a greater burden on section 311 

companies than on interstate pipelines which, it argues, is contrary to the intent of the 

NGPA.19

19. The Commission will revise 18 CFR 284.126 (b)(1)(vi) so that section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines are only required to report contract end-dates for firm transportation 

and firm storage contracts, not for interruptible contracts. Because interstate pipelines are 

not required to report the end-dates of their interruptible transactions, imposing such a 

requirement on section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines is contrary to Order No. 735’s purpose 

of making the reporting requirements for the two sets of pipelines more similar. The 

absence of such a reporting requirement for interstate pipelines does not appear to have 

hampered the ability of the Commission and other interested parties to monitor the 

market for undue discrimination. Moreover, some pipelines, unlike Enstor, do not enter 

18 None of the commenters on the NOPR objected specifically to the proposal to 

require the ending dates of interruptible contracts to be reported, although they did raise 

concerns generally about commercially sensitive data. 

19 Enogex at 16. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 16 - 

into separate contracts for each interruptible transaction, but rather enter into a single 

master interruptible contract under which multiple individual transactions may occur. In 

such circumstances, the end-date of the interruptible contract is of limited significance. 

2. Customer Revenues

20. Before Order No. 735, § 284.126(b) of the Commission’s regulations required 

section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to report, on an annual basis, the actual revenues 

collected from each transportation customer, not including storage.20 The Commission 

does not currently require interstate pipelines to report revenues received from each 

customer for non-storage services. Both the interstate and intrastate semi-annual storage 

reports, however, do require reporting of the revenues received from each storage 

customer during storage injection and withdrawal seasons.21 Section 284.126(b)(1)(viii) 

of the Commission’s regulations, as adopted by Order No. 735, requires section 311 and 

Hinshaw pipelines to report the total revenues received from each shipper on a quarterly 

basis for both transportation and storage. 

21. In its rehearing request, Enstor urges the Commission to exempt storage providers 

with market-based rates from the requirement to report per-customer revenues publicly. 

Among other arguments, Enstor points out that interstate storage providers are not 

 20 18 CFR 284.126(b)(4) (2010, prior to effective date of Order No. 735). 

21 18 CFR 284.13(e)(5), 284.126(c)(5). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 17 - 

required to report this information in their daily web site postings. Enstor therefore 

asserts that, in this respect, the new quarterly reports required by Order No. 735 actually 

require more information from intrastate than interstate storage providers, contrary to the 

Commission’s stated intent of bringing the intrastate and interstate reporting requirements 

more in line with each other. Enstor asserts that the requirement would put intrastate 

storage providers at a competitive disadvantage to interstate storage providers. Enstor 

also states that while such customer-by-customer revenue information is included in the 

semi-annual storage reports of both interstate and intrastate pipelines, Enstor and other 

pipelines file such reports subject to a request for privileged treatment. 

22. We grant rehearing in part on this issue, and will revise 18 CFR 

284.126(b)(1)(viii) and the analogous lines of Form No. 549D so as to (1) collect percustomer revenue information only on an annual basis and (2) exclude storage revenues 

from the report. This will return the per-customer revenue reporting requirement to the 

status quo before Order No. 735. As a result, section 311 and Hinshaw storage providers 

will not be subject to any greater per-customer revenue reporting requirement than 

interstate pipelines. Both sets of pipelines will continue to be required to report percustomer revenues for storage services in the semi-annual storage reports, required by 

18 CFR 284.126(c)(5) for section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines and by 18 CFR 

284.13(e)(5) for interstate pipelines. In a contemporaneous NOI, the Commission is 

requesting comments on whether the existing semi-annual storage reporting requirements 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 18 - 

for both interstate pipelines and section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines should be modified. 

The issue of whether any change is warranted in the current per-customer storage revenue 

reporting requirement, including the confidentiality of that information, will be 

considered in that proceeding. 

23. The Commission recognizes that the requirement that section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipelines report annual non-storage revenues imposes a greater reporting requirement on 

those pipelines, than on interstate pipelines. Interstate pipelines are not required to make 

any report of per-customer non-storage revenues. However, that is a reporting disparity 

that exists in the Commission’s current regulations. The Commission relies on the 

existing annual reports of per-customer non-storage revenues to verify information 

submitted by section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines in their rate cases, and therefore finds 

that such information should continue to be collected. In addition, the rehearing 

applicants do not appear to have significant concerns about the commercial sensitivity of 

non-storage revenue information. Rather, they are primarily concerned that making 

storage revenue public on a quarterly basis could place storage providers with marketbased rates at a competitive disadvantage against their shippers who could use the 

relatively fresh revenue information to seek lower prices than they might otherwise 

obtain. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 19 - 

3. Quarterly Reporting Deadlines

24. Order No. 735 required that each quarterly report be filed on the first day of the 

month one month after the end of the relevant quarter, or roughly 30 days from the end of 

each quarter. Jefferson and TPA both urge the Commission to extend the due dates for 

filing quarterly reports. Both parties argue that Form No. 549D is much more detailed 

than previous reports, and thus will require more time to compile. TPA notes that some 

pipelines’ measurement and accounting systems are designed to only send invoices 30 

days after the end of the service month, and so they could not file reports so soon. 

Jefferson seeks a 90-day window between the close of the reporting period and the date 

when the report is due; TPA seeks a 60-day window. 

25. The Commission will revise 18 CFR 284.126(b)(2) so as to provide a roughly 60-

day window. While the Commission has used 30-day windows for other natural gas 

pipeline reports,22 Form No. 549D is fairly detailed and may require more time to 

complete. It may be more comparable in this sense to the Form No. 3-Q quarterly 

financial report, which uses a 60-day window.23 Accordingly, 18 CFR 284.126(b)(2) is 

 22 Intrastate pipelines must file semi-annual storage reports within 30 days of the 

end of each complete storage injection and withdrawal season. 18 CFR 284.126(c). 

23 Natural gas companies that file a FERC Form 2 must file the FERC Form 3-Q 

within 60 days after the reporting quarter, and companies that file a FERC Form 2-A 

must file the FERC Form 3-Q within 70 days. 18 CFR 260.300(b)(vii), (c)(vii). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 20 - 

amended to state that the quarterly Form No. 549D report for the period January 1 

through March 31 must be filed on or before June 1; the quarterly report for the period 

April 1 through June 30 must be filed on or before September 1; the quarterly report for 

the period July 1 through September 30 must be filed on or before December 1; and the 

quarterly report for the period October 1 through December 31 must be filed on or before 

March 1. 

B. Justification for Increased Transparency Required by the Rule

26. Order No. 735 adopted increased transactional reporting requirements for section 

311 and Hinshaw pipelines in order to provide greater transparency to the market.24 The 

Commission found such transparency to be necessary so shippers can make informed 

purchasing decisions, and also to permit both shippers and the Commission to monitor 

actual transactions for evidence of possible abuse of market power or undue 

discrimination. The Commission found that the existing reporting requirements in 18 

CFR 284.126 were inadequate for this purpose. For example, the annual reports of 

transportation transactions required by existing 18 CFR 284.126(b) did not include 

(1) the rates charged by the pipeline under each contract, (2) the receipt and delivery 

points and zones or segments covered by each contract, (3) the quantity of natural gas the 

shipper is entitled to transport, store, or deliver, (4) the duration of the contract, or 

 24 Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 73-79. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 21 - 

(5) whether there is an affiliate relationship between the pipeline and the shipper. 

Similarly, the semi-annual storage reports required by existing 18 CFR 284.126(c) do not 

include the rates charged by the storage provider in each contract, the duration of each 

contract, or whether there is an affiliate relationship between the storage provider and its 

customer. 

27. Order No. 735 found that all this information is necessary to allow the 

Commission, shippers, and others to determine the extent to which particular transactions 

are comparable to one another for purposes of monitoring for undue discrimination. For 

example, contracts for service on different parts of a pipeline system or with different 

durations may not be comparable to one another. The additional information required to 

be reported by the Final Rule is also necessary to allow shippers to make informed 

decisions about their capacity purchases. Shippers need to know the price paid for 

capacity over a particular path to enable them to decide, for instance, how much to offer 

for the specific capacity they seek. 

28. Order No. 735 also held that, as a matter of policy, section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipelines must file the new quarterly transactional reports as public in order to achieve 

the Final Rule’s purpose of improving transparency, monitoring discrimination, and 

fostering efficient markets. The Commission recognized the concern of some pipelines 

that disclosure of commercially sensitive information would enable a shipper to know 

what the pipeline is charging other shippers and thus prevent the pipeline from being able 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 22 - 

to negotiate the best price for the services it offers. However, the Commission found that 

its requirement that the reports be filed quarterly would permit a significant delay 

between contract execution and disclosure, and that delay should temper any potential 

adverse effects from disclosure. 

29. Order No. 735 concluded that public disclosure of all information in the quarterly 

reports is necessary to permit all market participants to monitor the market and detect 

undue discrimination. The Commission also stated that it expects and hopes that market 

participants will use the information from these reports in order to educate themselves 

about market conditions. Regardless of any adverse effect on individual entities, public 

disclosure will improve the market as a whole by improving efficiency and competition. 

30. On rehearing, Enogex and Enstor contend that the Commission has failed to 

support the increased transactional reporting and public disclosure requirements which 

Order No. 735 imposes on section 311 pipelines. In general, they contend that (1) the 

Commission lacks statutory authority under the NGPA to impose these requirements on 

section 311 pipelines, (2) these requirements will harm section 311 storage providers 

with market based rates, (3) the Commission has failed to show that there is an industry 

problem which these requirements will ameliorate, and (4) these requirements impose 

unnecessary burdens on section 311 pipelines. For the reasons set forth below, we find 

these contentions unpersuasive and reaffirm the Final Rule. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 23 - 

1. Statutory Authority to Require Public Disclosure 

31. In discussing its statutory authority for the increased reporting and public 

disclosure requirements of Order No. 735, the Commission first addressed its statutory 

authority with respect to Hinshaw pipelines. The Commission pointed out that it 

regulates the interstate services of Hinshaw pipelines under the NGA.25 NGA section 

4(c) requires that “under such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe, 

every natural gas company shall . . . keep open for public inspection . . . all rates . . . 

together with all contracts which in any manner affect or relate to such rates.” While the 

NGA gives the Commission some discretion with respect to how to provide for the 

disclosure of rate schedules and contracts, clearly the public disclosure of rate schedules 

and related contracts, in some manner, is required.26 Therefore, Order No. 735 concluded 

that its requirement that the quarterly reports of Hinshaw pipelines be posted without any 

information redacted was simply carrying out NGA section 4(c)’s requirement for public 

disclosure of rate and contract information “under such rules and regulations as the 

Commission may prescribe.” The Commission also pointed out that NGA section 

 25 Consumers Energy Co. v. FERC, 226 F.3d 777 (6th Cir. 2000) (holding that the 

Commission must comply with the requirements of NGA section 5 in order to require a 

Hinshaw pipeline to modify its rates for interstate service). 

26 SGRM, 125 FERC ¶ 61,191 at P 23 (quoting Order No. 637-A, FERC Stats. & 

Regs. ¶ 31,099 at 31,614). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 24 - 

 

23(a)(1) directs the Commission “to facilitate price transparency in markets for the sale 

or transportation of physical natural gas in interstate commerce.”27

32. Order No. 735 then turned to the Commission’s statutory authority with respect to 

section 311 pipelines. The Commission recognized that the NGPA does not contain an 

express public disclosure provision similar to NGA section 4(c). However, the 

Commission stated that NGPA section 311(c) authorizes the Commission to prescribe the 

“terms and conditions” under which intrastate pipelines perform interstate service. Order 

No. 735 concluded that requiring NGPA section 311 pipelines to publicly disclose 

transactional information for the purpose of allowing shippers and others to monitor 

NGPA section 311 transactions for undue discrimination is well within the Commission’s 

broad conditioning authority under section 311(c).28

33. Enogex and Enstor do not contest the Commission’s authority under NGA section 

4(c) to require Hinshaw pipelines to report and publicly disclose all the information in the 

quarterly reports adopted by Order No. 735. However, they contend that imposing these 

requirements on section 311 pipelines goes beyond the Commission’s conditioning 

27 15 U.S.C. 717t-2(a)(1). See Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58, 

section 316 (Natural Gas Market Transparency Rules), 119 Stat. 594 (2005). 

28 See, e.g., Associated Gas Distributors, 824 F.2d at 1015-18 (affirming the 

Commission’s use of Section 311(c) to require intrastate pipelines to permit their 

interstate sales customers to convert to transportation-only service). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 25 - 

 

authority under NGPA section 311(c). Enogex points out that the purpose of the NGPA 

is to allow intrastate pipelines to compete in the interstate transportation market without 

bearing the burden of full NGA regulation. It asserts that, when coupled with the existing 

triennial rate review requirement for section 311 pipelines and other reporting 

requirements, the new quarterly reporting and disclosure requirements of Order No. 735 

would regulate section 311 pipelines on a level nearly equivalent to the regulatory 

oversight to which interstate pipelines are subject under the NGA. Enstor contends that, 

in Associated Gas Distributors,

29 the court held that the Commission’s exercise of its 

NGPA section 311(c) conditioning authority should conform to the overall purposes of 

the NGPA, namely “to assure adequate supplies of natural gas at fair prices.” Enstor 

contends that Order No. 735 failed to explain how the new quarterly reports will 

accomplish that goal. 

34. The Commission finds that requiring section 311 pipelines to report and disclose 

the information contained in the quarterly reports required by Order No. 735, as amended 

in the preceding sections of this order, is well within the Commission’s conditioning 

authority under NGPA section 311(c). The information contained in these quarterly 

reports is basic information concerning the terms of the section 311 pipelines’ contracts 

29 824 F.2d 981 at 1017-18. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 26 - 

 

with their shippers.30 In the NGA and the Federal Power Act (FPA), Congress required 

the Commission to provide for the public disclosure of the rates and contracts of 

interstate gas and oil pipelines and public utilities.31 Public disclosure of jurisdictional 

contracts is thus at the heart of each statute adopted by Congress prior to the NGPA for 

regulating the rates, terms, and conditions of entities subject to our jurisdiction. 

35. The NGPA does not set forth a comprehensive scheme for Commission regulation 

of interstate service provided by intrastate pipelines in the manner of the NGA or FPA. 

Rather, it delegates to the Commission broad authority “by rule or order [to] authorize 

any intrastate pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of[] any interstate pipeline[ or] 

local distribution company served by any interstate pipeline.”32 Consistent with that 

broad authorization, section 311(c) provides that “Any authorization granted under this 

section shall be under such terms and conditions as the Commission may prescribe.” 

Given that public disclosure of contracts has been a fundamental aspect of the 

30 Enogex and Enstor do not object to the requirement to state whether the shipper 

is an affiliate of the pipeline. While the amended requirement to report annual nonstorage revenues collected from each customer goes beyond reporting contract terms, 

both Enogex and Enstor are primarily concerned with Order No. 735’s effect on storage 

providers with market-based rates. Therefore, the removal of the requirement that 

storage revenues be reported addresses their concern with respect to the per-customer 

revenue reporting requirement in the Order No. 735 reports. 

31 NGA section 4(c); FPA section 205(c). 

32 NGPA section 311(a)(2)(A). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 27 - 

 

Commission’s regulation of all the entities subject its jurisdiction, the Commission finds 

that requiring section 311 pipelines to report and disclose the terms of their contracts is 

well within the broad authority Congress delegated to us to determine under what terms 

intrastate pipelines may perform interstate transportation service. 

36. The Commission has recognized throughout this proceeding that Congress 

intended in the NGPA to encourage intrastate pipelines to participate in the interstate 

transportation market by enabling them to do so without bearing the burden of full 

Commission regulation under the NGA.33 Contrary to Enogex, the reporting 

requirements adopted in Order No. 735 are substantially less burdensome than the 

reporting requirements we have imposed on interstate pipelines regulated under the NGA. 

The Commission requires interstate pipelines to maintain internet websites and post the 

terms of each contract before the first nomination for service under that contract. By 

contrast, this rule does not require section 311 pipelines to maintain an internet website. 

Order No. 735 only requires section 311 pipelines to make quarterly reports of the terms 

of their contracts. Moreover, in this order we have extended the deadline for each report 

from 30 days after the end of the quarter to 60 days after the end of the quarter. In 

addition, while the reports must be filed in a standardized electronic format, the 

33 Mustang Energy Corp. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 859 F.2d 1447, 

1457 (10th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1019 (1988); see also EPGT Texas Pipeline, 

99 FERC ¶ 61,295 (2002). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 28 - 

 

Commission has developed the electronic form in a PDF format and an XML Schema 

that, upon OMB approval, will be available to download from the FERC website and 

save to a user’s computer desktop. 

37. In Associated Gas Distributors,

34 the court affirmed the Commission’s use of its 

NGPA section 311(c) conditioning authority to impose conditions necessary to assure 

that section 311 intrastate pipelines do not engage in undue discrimination. The court 

also stated that “Section 311 itself states no explicit standards for the exercise of the 

power, but the overall purposes of the NGPA provide a standard – somewhat amorphous 

to be sure – against which we can and must measure the Commission decision.”35 The 

court further stated that the Supreme Court had declared that the NGPA’s “aim . . . was 

to assure adequate supplies of natural gas at fair prices.”36 Order No. 735’s requirement 

that section 311 pipelines report and disclose transactional information is consistent with 

this goal, because it will make the market operate more efficiently. The Commission has 

consistently held that disclosure of transactional information “will benefit the market as a 

whole, by improving efficiency and competition. Buyers of services need good 

34 824 F.2d 981 at 1002-1003. 

35 Id. at 1016 (citation omitted). 

36 Id. at 1017, quoting Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. v. State Oil & Gas 

Board, 474 U.S. 409, 421 (1986). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 29 - 

 

information in order to make good choices among competing capacity offerings. Without 

the provision of such information, competition suffers.”37 Similarly, in Order No. 2001, 

adopting the Electric Quarterly Reports (EQRs) required of public utilities, the 

Commission held, 

[W]e believe that disclosure will promote competition and make the 

market operate more efficiently. . . .[E]asy access to contract and 

transaction data will give customers a basis on which to compare a 

variety of suppliers and monitor for market power and anticompetitive behavior. This information will allow customers to reap 

further benefits from open access transmission by giving them 

improved tools to use in making buying decisions. In addition, the 

Commission hopes that making this information more 

understandable and accessible will promote competition and 

confidence in the fairness of the market.38

38. Our statutory authority to require section 311 pipelines to report and disclose 

transactional information is buttressed by section 23(a)(1) of the NGA, adopted by EPAct 

2005. That section directs the Commission to “facilitate price transparency in markets 

for the . . . transportation of physical natural gas in interstate commerce, having due 

regard for the public interest, the integrity of those markets, fair competition, and the 

37 Order No. 637-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,099 at 31,614-615. 

38 Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements, Order No. 2001, FERC Stats. 

& Regs. ¶ 31,127, P 44-46, 74-85, 104-117, reh’g denied, Order No. 2001-A, 100 FERC 

¶ 61,074, P 13-17, 30-35, reh’g denied, Order No. 2001-B, 100 FERC ¶ 61,342, order 

directing filing, Order No. 2001-C, 101 FERC ¶ 61,314 (2002), order directing filing, 

Order No. 2001-D, 102 FERC ¶ 61,334 (2003).
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 30 - 

protection of consumers.” This provision applies to all natural gas transportation in 

interstate commerce, and thus applies to section 311 pipelines as well as pipelines subject 

to our NGA jurisdiction. Thus, requiring the Order No. 735 quarterly reports by section 

311 pipelines to be public is specifically in keeping with this directive. 

2. Harm to Storage Providers with Market-based Rates

39. Both Enogex and Enstor argue that the Commission should not require marketbased storage companies such as themselves to report information publicly. Enogex 

argues that “its ability to capture rates that are truly market-based will be severely 

compromised if non-section 311 competitors have access to the rates Enogex is charging 

and will charge under specific storage service agreements.”39 Enogex asserts that it must 

compete with unregulated intrastate pipelines providing purely intrastate service that are 

not subject to any disclosure requirements. It asserts that Order No. 735 places it at a 

competitive disadvantage to such pipelines, because the purely intrastate pipelines will 

have access to a section 311 pipeline’s rate and customer information, while the section 

311 pipeline will not have access to comparable information concerning the intrastate 

pipeline. 

40. Enogex contends that this is contrary to the directives of NGA section 23. Enogex 

contends that Order No. 735’s public disclosure requirement violates the requirement of 

 39 Enogex at 13. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 31 - 

 

section 23(a)(1) that the Commission have due regard for the integrity of markets and fair 

competition. It also points out that section 23(b)(1) requires the Commission to exempt 

from disclosure information that would be detrimental to the operation of an effective 

market, and section 23(b)(2) requires the Commission to “seek to ensure that consumers 

and competitive markets are protected from the adverse effects of potential collusion or 

other anti-competitive behaviors that can be facilitated by untimely public disclosure of 

transaction-specific information.” 

41. Enstor claims that reporting such commercially sensitive information would 

distort the markets and discourage infrastructure development. Enstor’s primary concern 

is that Order No. 735 requires section 311 and Hinshaw storage providers with marketbased rates to disclose information which interstate storage providers are not required to 

disclose, specifically the end-date of interruptible transactions and revenue collected from 

each customer. Enstor asserts that disclosure of this information will place section 311 

and Hinshaw storage providers at a competitive disadvantage with interstate pipelines. 

Enstor asserts that despite the fact there will be a considerable “time lag between the 

execution of a contract and its ultimate disclosure in a quarterly report,” the obligation to 

report nevertheless “will undermine the very business model that Enstor and other like 

storage providers have used.”40 Shippers would be able to “recreate the storage 

40 Enstor Request for Rehearing at 15. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 32 - 

 

positions” of their competitors and “gain valuable insight into” others’ market positions, 

forcing Enstor’s prices downward.41

42. The Commission has consistently applied its requirements to report and disclose 

transactional information to shippers with market-based rates on the ground that such 

disclosure benefits the overall market, and those benefits outweigh any commercial 

disadvantages to individual entities in the market. As the Commission held in Order 

No. 637-A: 

The disclosure of greater information regarding capacity 

transactions is necessary to achieve these dual goals of 

fostering competition and market monitoring. To foster 

competition, it is not sufficient merely to ensure there are 

multiple competitors, there also needs to be good information 

to enable buyers to make informed choices among the 

competitors. Difficulty in obtaining information can reduce 

competition because buyers may not be aware of potential 

alternatives and cannot compare prices between alternatives. 

The reporting requirements will expand shippers’ knowledge 

of alternative offerings by providing more information about 

the capacity available from the pipeline....42 

43. Thus, Order No. 637-A concluded that “while disclosure of the transactional 

information may cause some commercial disadvantage to individual entities, it will 

benefit the market as a whole, by improving efficiency and competition.”43 The 

41 Id. 

42 Order No. 637-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,099 at 31,611-2. 

43 Id., at 31,614-615. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 33 - 

Commission reached the same conclusion in Order No. 2001, requiring public utilities to 

report and disclose similar transactional information. Thus, the requirement that section 

311 and Hinshaw pipelines with market-based rates publicly disclose transactional 

information is consistent with longstanding Commission policy. 

44. The Commission also rejects Enogex’s contention that Order No. 735’s public 

disclosure requirement violates the requirements of NGA sections 23(a)(1) and 23(b) that 

any transparency requirements avoid detrimental effects on competitive markets. Enogex 

appears to read these provisions as requiring the Commission to exempt from public 

disclosure any information that might have some effect on the competitive position of a 

particular participant in the natural gas market. However, these provisions only provide 

that, in requiring public disclosure, the Commission should seek to avoid detrimental 

effects on the operation of the market as a whole and protect against “potential collusion 

or other anti-competitive behaviors.” As the First Circuit stated in Town of Concord v. 

Boston Edison Co., 

a practice is not “anticompetitive” simply because it harms 

competitors. After all, almost all business activity, desirable 

and undesirable alike, seeks to advance a firm’s fortunes at 

the expense of its competitors. Rather, a practice is 

“anticompetitive” only if it harms the competitive process. It 

harms that process when it obstructs the achievement of 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 34 - 

 

competition’s basic goals – lower prices, better products, and 

more efficient production methods.44

45. Neither Enogex nor Enstor have shown that Order No. 735’s public disclosure 

requirements harm the competitive process or encourage anti-competitive behaviors. 

Enogex focuses on the fact that intrastate pipelines engaging in purely intrastate business 

are not subject to similar disclosure requirements. However, this fact does not justify 

exempting intrastate pipelines from the Order No. 735 disclosure requirements when they 

perform interstate service. As Order No. 735 clarified, the revised reporting requirements 

adopted by this rule apply only to a section 311 pipeline’s contracts for interstate service, 

not its purely intrastate contracts. Therefore, section 311 pipelines need not disclose the 

rates they charge in intrastate transactions. While Enogex asserts that the same customers 

likely take both intrastate and section 311 services, a contract for section 311 service 

allows the shipper access to the interstate natural gas markets, while a strictly intrastate 

contract does not. This fact would generally suggest a contract for section 311 interstate 

service would have a different value than a contract for purely intrastate service. Thus, a 

section 311 pipeline’s disclosure of pricing information concerning its contracts for 

interstate service is not necessarily indicative of the pipeline’s pricing policies for its 

purely intrastate services. Moreover, in this order, the Commission is extending the 

44 915 F.2d 17, 21-22 (1st Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 931 (1991). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 35 - 

deadline for the filing of quarterly reports to two months after the end of the relevant 

quarter. Thus, for example, contracts entered into during the period January through 

March need not be disclosed until June 1. This allows a delay in disclosure of from two 

to five months after contract execution, depending upon when in the quarter a contract 

was entered into, thereby minimizing any harm from disclosure of the contract’s terms. 

46. In these circumstances, the Commission finds that the benefits to the interstate 

market of Order No. 735’s public disclosure requirements outweigh any harm arising 

from the fact that there is no similar public disclosure requirement for purely intrastate 

pipelines. That a state may not have imposed disclosure requirements for services within 

its jurisdiction should not prevent the Commission from adopting public disclosure 

requirements for the services within our jurisdiction and thereby providing the interstate 

market with the benefit of greater transparency. 

47. Enstor’s primary concern is that Order No. 735 requires section 311 storage 

providers to disclose certain information that interstate storage providers are not required 

to disclose, specifically the end-date for interruptible contracts and per-customer 

revenues. However, we are eliminating that disparity in this order, by removing both 

requirements from the quarterly reports that section 311 pipelines are required to submit 

by this Final Rule. As revised, we are confident that the transactional reporting 

requirements appropriately balance the need for increased transparency of section 311 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 36 - 

and Hinshaw pipeline transactions, while avoiding unduly burdensome market distortions 

that might discourage such pipelines from participating in the interstate market. 

3. Evidence

48. Citing the standards for reasoned decision-making and abuse of discretion,45

Enogex argues that the Commission failed to support the Final Rule with any evidence of 

market abuse requiring an expansion of the scope and frequency of the existing contract 

reporting requirements. Enogex argues that this is contrary to the D.C. Court’s decision 

in National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. v. FERC, where the court reversed a Commission rule 

on the ground that the Commission was “professing that an order ameliorates a real 

industry problem but then citing no evidence that there is in fact an industry problem.”46 

Enogex claims that the Order No. 735 failed to cite any examples of market abuse, only 

potential abuse. It also argues that while the Commission seeks to increase transparency, 

“[i]ncreased transparency in of itself is not a sufficient basis to impose a substantial new 

reporting burden.”47

 45 Enogex at 5, 7-10 (citing, inter alia, Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

706(2) (A), (E)). 

46 Enogex at 7 (quoting National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. v. FERC, 468 F.3d 831, 

843 (D.C. Cir 2006) (National Fuel Gas)). 

47 Enogex at 9. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 37 - 

 

49. Enstor makes a similar argument, also citing the court’s decision in National Fuel 

Gas, although it only argues for reconsidering the Final Rule “to the extent that it has 

imposed reporting requirements on intrastate storage providers that provide service at 

market-based rates under the NPGA.”48 Enstor notes that the record material in the Final 

Rule concerns allegations about intrastate pipeline transportation, but none “on the part of 

storage companies,” especially those that “do not possess market power.”49 Enstor 

argues that the Commission’s exercise of its conditioning authority under section 311 of 

the NGPA cannot be justified by “the potential for undue discrimination.”50

50. We disagree with both Enogex and Enstor. In arguing that the Commission must 

present evidence of market abuses by section 311 pipelines in order to support the new 

disclosure requirements, Enogex and Enstor miss the point that the purpose of this rule is 

not solely to minimize market abuses and undue discrimination. As explained above, a 

primary purpose of this rule is to provide shippers better information about relative prices 

and other terms of different capacity offerings so that they can make more informed 

choices among competitors. This will make the market operate more efficiently. As the 

D.C. Circuit held in Alabama Power Co., 

48 Enstor at 3. 

49 Enogex at 9. 

50 Enstor at 10. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 38 - 

 

Perfect information available to all buyers and sellers is, 

indeed, one of the conditions of the economic model of 

“perfect competition,” and where the remaining conditions 

are satisfied, dissemination of information tends to facilitate 

prompt adjustment to the market clearing price by all parties 

to transactions.51

51. It is not necessary to present evidence to support the well-accepted principle that 

better information enables purchasers to make better decisions and improves the overall 

efficiency of the market. Indeed, in the same National Fuel Gas case that Enogex quotes, 

the court explains that if the Commission seeks to justify a new regulation based solely 

on theoretical grounds, it may do so.52 Therefore, increased transparency of transactions 

subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction in order to help shippers make informed 

purchasing decisions is a sufficient basis to impose a substantial new reporting duty, 

regardless of whether some section 311 of Hinshaw pipelines have engaged in market 

abuses. Indeed, this was a primary ground on which the Commission justified the Final 

Rule. The Commission argued, and we continue to hold, that the increased transparency 

that the Final Rule brings should improve the natural gas transportation market’s 

efficiency.53

51 Alabama Power Co. v. Federal Power Comm’n, 511 F.2d 383, 391 n.13 (D.C. 

Cir. 1974). 

52 See National Fuel Gas, 468 F.3d at 839. 

53 See Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 35. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 39 - 

52. The Commission is also requiring the new quarterly transactional reports in order 

to permit both shippers and the Commission to monitor section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipelines’ jurisdictional interstate transactions for evidence of possible abuse of market 

power or undue discrimination. As previously discussed, public disclosure of the terms 

of jurisdictional contracts in order to ensure against undue discrimination among shippers 

is a standard part of the regulatory regimes established by the NGA and the FPA, in 

which Congress has directed the Commission to require such public disclosure. 

Therefore, the Commission does not believe that requiring the same method of enabling 

shippers and the Commission to monitor the contracts of section 311 pipelines for abuse 

of market power and undue discrimination requires the establishment of a record showing 

extensive abuses by section 311 pipelines. This is particularly the case since section 23 

of the NGA now directs the Commission to “facilitate price transparency in markets for 

the . . . transportation of physical natural gas in interstate commerce,” including such 

transportation by section 311 pipelines. In any event, the comments in this proceeding do 

indicate that the preexisting reporting regime was not performing as well as it could be. 

For example, the Final Rule noted that “Clayton Williams provides a detailed narrative 

suggesting that it could have pursued allegations that a pipeline has been engaging in 

unlawful business practices, if only it had more publicly available information to support 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 40 - 

 

its allegation” as evidence in favor of improved reporting requirements.54 Given this 

testimony alleging concerns with the preexisting reporting regime, plus the 

Commission’s theoretical framework suggesting that increased transparency would 

improve conditions in the transportation and storage market, we find the Final Rule 

adequately justified. 

53. With regard to Enstor’s argument that these concerns do not apply to market-based 

storage, we remind Enstor that a Commission finding that a service provider lacks market 

power should not be read to mean that its shippers are at no risk of undue discrimination 

or other unlawful practices. “It is even more critical for the Commission to review 

pricing when the Commission is relying on competition to regulate rates, rather than 

scrutinizing the underlying cost of service.”55 

54. The court’s decision in National Fuel Gas addressed a different type of rule than is 

at issue here. In that case, the Commission adopted a rule modifying its Standards of 

Conduct governing natural gas pipelines’ interactions with their marketing affiliates so 

that the Standards of Conduct would also apply to non-marketing affiliates. These 

54 Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 28. 

55 Revisions to Uniform System of Accounts, Forms, Statements, and Reporting 

Requirements for Natural Gas Companies, Order No. 581, 60 FR 53019, 53051, FERC 

Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,026 (1995), order on reh’g, Order No. 581-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,032 (1996). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 41 - 

included producers, processors, and local distribution companies who might not hold any 

capacity on their affiliated pipeline. The purpose of the rule was to guard against 

pipelines giving non-marketing affiliates undue preference or other market abuses by 

non-marketing affiliates. The Standards of Conduct required that the affiliates function 

independently and limit the information that may be shared among them. 

55. In reversing the Commission, the court first emphasized that vertical integration 

between a pipeline and its affiliates produces benefits for consumers. The court stated 

that both the sharing of information between pipelines and affiliates and integration of 

functions have efficiency benefits. Therefore, the court found that the Commission 

cannot impede vertical integration between a pipeline and its affiliates without adequate 

justification. The court found that the Commission had not provided such justification 

either by presenting evidence of market abuses by non-marketing affiliates or providing a 

sufficient explanation of a theoretical danger that pipelines will favor their non-marketing 

affiliates. 

56. The rule at issue here differs from the rule at issue in National Fuel Gas in a 

number of respects. First, as already discussed, the purpose of this rule is not limited to 

preventing certain types of market abuses, as was the case with the rule in National Fuel 

Gas; rather a primary purpose of this rule also is to provide all market participants better 

information in order to make informed purchasing decisions, and thereby improve the 

efficiency of the market. Second, this rule does not impede activities by pipelines (or 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 42 - 

their affiliates) which the courts have found to create market efficiencies and thus benefit 

consumers, such as the vertical integration at issue in National Fuel Gas. To the 

contrary, as discussed above, the courts have found that public disclosure of contract 

terms generally benefits the overall market and consumers. Third, the public disclosure 

requirements adopted in Order No. 735 apply only to pipelines and transactions directly 

subject to our jurisdiction under the NGA and NGPA and do not affect the corporate 

structure of entities, such as non-marketing affiliates, not directly subject to our 

jurisdiction. Finally, the instant rule is carrying out Congress’s directives in NGA section 

4 to require public disclosure of Hinshaw pipelines’ jurisdictional contracts and in NGA 

section 23 to provide for price transparency of all interstate transportation transactions. 

For these reasons, the Commission finds that our adoption of Order No. 735 is not 

inconsistent with National Fuel Gas. 

57. Accordingly, we find sufficient cause to apply the Final Rule to both cost-based 

and market-based transactions. 

4. Insufficiency of Periodic Rate Review

58. Enogex further argues that “the Commission erred in concluding that the new 

Form No. 549D is necessary to meet its statutory obligation to ensure that rates for 

section 311 service are ‘fair and equitable’, in view of the fact that it already requires a 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 43 - 

ecessary. 

 

triennial rate review requirement.”56 Enogex claims the “the adequacy of the triennial 

rate review requirement is evident,” and even more stringent than NGA rate review 

“because interstate pipelines are no longer subject to a periodic rate review.”57 

Therefore, Enogex argues, the reporting requirement is unn

59. We reject Enogex’s bare assertions about periodic rate review. The triennial rate 

review requirement does not render Order No. 735’s increased reporting requirements 

unnecessary. The primary purposes of the two requirements are different. The 

Commission requires section 311 pipelines with cost-based rates to make periodic rate 

filings so that the Commission can review whether the pipeline’s maximum rates 

applicable to all transactions continue to be fair and equitable. In those rate review 

proceedings, the Commission determines whether the pipeline’s maximum rates allow it 

to collect revenues in excess of its cost-of-service, and, if so, the Commission may 

require a reduction in the pipeline’s maximum rates. Thus, the focus of a rate review 

filing is on the pipeline’s generally applicable maximum rates, not the rates charged in 

individual transactions. 

60. By contrast, the primary purpose of the Order No. 735 reporting requirements is to 

enable individual shippers to make more informed decisions as to the prices they agree to 

56 Enogex at 6. 

57 Enogex at 9-10. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 44 - 

pay in their own individual transactions, including with market-based rate pipelines that 

are not subject to the periodic rate review requirement. The reporting requirements also 

allow better monitoring by the Commission and shippers for instances of undue 

discrimination among shippers, a matter not generally addressed in rate review 

proceedings. While periodic rate review is necessary in order to ensure that a pipeline’s 

generally applicable maximum rates are fair and equitable, it does not accomplish the 

goals of this rulemaking. For that purpose, it is necessary to require public reports of the 

terms of the individual contracts a pipeline enters into with each of its shippers, which the 

Commission and market participants may review in order to detect and mitigate against 

possible abuse of market power or undue discrimination. Such reporting does not occur 

in a periodic rate review filing. 

5. Burden

61. Enogex also argues that the Commission should not have implemented the Final 

Rule “after acknowledging that the new quarterly report would be unduly burdensome 

when coupled with the periodic cost of service rate review requirement,”58 and that the 

Commission “erred in concluding that the new ... requirement would not be unduly 

burdensome from a cost and administrative standpoint.”59 Enogex refers to Form 

 58 Enogex at 19. 

59 Enogex at 6. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 45 - 

 

No. 549D’s “seventy five data elements” as an “extraordinary level of detail,” and claims 

that “because Enogex may provide for both Section 311 and intrastate services in a single 

contract, existing contract methods ... may have to be ... modified in order to report the 

required information.”60 Finally, Enogex argues that “the Commission inadvertently 

demonstrated that the triennial rate review requirement is more than sufficient,” and 

urges that Commission to “reverse course and terminate this rulemaking proceeding, even 

if this results in the triennial rate review requirement being reinstituted.”61

62. Enogex misstates the record in claiming that the Commission found “that the new 

quarterly report would be unduly burdensome when coupled with the periodic cost of 

service rate review requirement.”62 Rather, the Commission stated that it “is sensitive to 

concerns that the improved reporting requirements could prove too burdensome, when 

considered in aggregation with other burdens such as triennial rate review.”63 In other 

words, the Commission reduced the periodic rate review requirement not because it was 

obligated to do so by the undue burden standard, but because the Commission was 

exercising its discretion to lessen pipelines’ overall burden of complying with all the 

60 Enogex at 18. 

61 Enogex at 19. 

62 Enogex at 19. 

63 Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 96. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 46 - 

ic 

 among 

e 

 

Commission’s various regulatory requirements. We also reject Enogex’s implication of 

burden by the fact that there are seventy-five data elements. Burden is more properly 

weighed by the content of the data requested. The first eighteen of those data elements, 

for instance, are little more than the company filling out its name and contact 

information; using numerous but smaller data elements is useful for making the 

completed form more amenable to electronic searches. 

63. Furthermore, as the Commission has explained, its regulatory oversight is not 

merely limited to reviewing rate filings. In order to carry out our “responsibility to 

ensure rates and charges are fair and equitable... it is important for rates charged to be 

reported” as well.64 The Commission seeks to empower shippers “to determine the 

extent to which particular transactions are comparable to one another”65 in order to 

protect themselves from undue discrimination. The previous reporting requirements in 

18 CFR 284.126, for both transportation and storage, were inadequate for providing 

potential shippers with sufficient information to make well informed purchasing 

decisions. We also note that while other parties on rehearing request changes to specif

elements or argue for special attention to certain market sectors, Enogex is alone

all Respondents in arguing that filing the new reports would be unduly burdensome. Th

64 Order No. 581, 60 FR 53019 at 53,050-51; FERC Stats. & Regs. at 31,501. 

65 NOPR, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,644 at 19. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 47 - 

benefits to the functioning of the market, by ensuring transportation and storage 

customers are aware of the actual prices charged just as American customers have long 

come to expect in the retail sector, far outweigh Enogex’s inchoate claims of undue 

administrative burden. 

C. Identification of Receipt Points

64. AOG urges the Commission to amend or clarify Order No. 735’s requirement, 

codified at 18 CFR 284.126 (b)(1)(iv), that Respondents must state the primary receipt 

points covered by each contract that is reported on Form No. 549D. AOG is a small local 

distribution company for a ten-county rural area along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. 

Its system includes roughly 400 production wells, which ordinarily serve AOG’s nonjurisdictional distribution customers. When demand is not at peak, AOG delivers excess 

production gas to the interstate markets under an Order No. 63 blanket certificate.66 

AOG states that the current set-up of its system does not allow it to identify the receipt 

point of each transaction.67 AOG argues that even if it could, “the information would be 

 66 See Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp., 33 FERC ¶ 61,197, at 61,401-02 (1985) 

(An Order No. 63 blanket certificate “permits a local distribution company that is served 

by an interstate pipeline . . . to sell and transport gas in interstate commerce under the 

same conditions as apply to those transactions when engaged in by intrastate pipelines 

under sections 311 and 312 of the NGPA.”). 

67 AOG’s request includes an affidavit from its president elaborating on its specific 

factual circumstances, along with a system map. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 48 - 

 

meaningless” because AOG does not deliver to the interstate markets directly; rather, all 

five of its delivery points interconnect with third-party gathering systems that would not 

be covered by the reporting requirements.68

65. Because of the high difficulty and limited usefulness of tracking receipt points on 

such a system, AOG recommends that the Commission clarify the receipt point reporting 

requirement. AOG requests that: 

respondents, such as AOG, who perform basically a gathering 

service, are located in a production area, have hundreds of 

wells attached to their system, deliver only production gas to 

other gathering facilities ..., and are physically unable to 

identify a receipt point for each transaction be [allowed] to 

designate ‘production pool’ as the receipt point in their 

quarterly reports.69 

66. AOG’s request is narrowly tailored to its own circumstances, which appear to be 

quite rare. Accordingly, we find that this request does not justify a modification of the 

generally applicable reporting requirements adopted in this rulemaking proceeding. 

However, AOG may re-file its request in a separate docket, and request a case-specific 

waiver of the 18 CFR 284.126 (b)(1)(iv) requirement to identify individual receipt points 

based on its own circumstances. While we do not anticipate many other pipelines to 

68 AOG at 9. 

69 AOG at 7. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 49 - 

qualify for waivers, the Commission will consider other requests for waiver on a case-bycase basis, as the moving party’s individual circumstances so warrant. 

D. Identification of Shippers

67. TPA argues that, “[t]he Commission erred by requiring Section 311 and Hinshaw 

pipelines to identify shippers by D-U-N-S number in Form No. 549D.”70 TPA claims 

that the Commission has not explained why an identification number is useful, given that 

pipelines must report publicly the names of its shippers. 

68. We affirm that “standardized shipper identification is not unduly burdensome in 

comparison to the benefit to the Commission and market participants of being certain of 

the true identity of a pipeline’s shippers.”71 For some persons interested in reading Form 

No. 549D data, TPA may be correct that the shipper’s full legal name will be sufficient. 

For entities using the data to engage in market research, however, a standardized 

identification number is necessary for at least two reasons. First, identification numbers 

facilitate the process of creating reliable, robust databases, which in turn help market 

participants to gain the most value out of the information in these public reports. Without 

standard identification numbers, a small typographic change, such as referring to 

“Shipper A, LLC” as “Shipper A, L.L.C.,” could be misinterpreted by a computer system 

 70 TPA at 3, 7. 

71 Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 61. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 50 - 

 

as two different entities. Second, identification numbers greatly reduce the 

administrative burden (both to Respondents and to all readers of the reports) in the 

common situation where a shipper changes its legal name but is otherwise the same 

entity. Identification numbers allow for data from before and after the shipper’s name 

change to be considered properly as part of a continuous set, without the need for the 

Respondent to engage in tedious manual intervention. Accordingly, all Respondents are 

required to use a standard shipper identification number for Form No. 549D. 

69. TPA also argues that while Respondents “can ask their shippers to obtain D-U-NS numbers, they have no authority to require them to do so and should not be held 

accountable for a shipper’s failure to obtain a D-U-N-S number.”72 We disagree. As a 

general matter, it would be fair and equitable for a pipeline to include in its Statement of 

Operating Conditions a requirement that shippers must provide the pipeline with 

information that is necessary in order to comply with any state or federal reporting 

requirements. Currently, assignment of a D-U-N-S number is free for all entities required 

to register with the federal government by a regulatory agency.73 The Commission and 

72 TPA at 8. 

73 See Electric Quarterly Report Submission Software Users Guide at 11-12 

(January 2008), available at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eqr/soft-tools/userguide.pdf. 

See also Dun & Bradstreet website, http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 51 - 

the North American Energy Standards Board have been requiring shipper D-U-N-S 

numbers for years in the Index of Customers without serious complaint.74

E. Prior Period Adjustment and Inactive Contracts

70. TPA asks the Commission to clarify how prior period adjustments should be 

reported. Since “volumetric measurement is an inexact science,”75 TPA argues, 

inevitably pipelines will discover measurement errors in prior records of volumes 

shipped, injected, or withdrawn. TPA states that it is not clear how to report these 

adjustments on Form No. 549D. TPA recommends that Respondents should report a 

prior period adjustment as part of the data for the quarter when it is discovered rather than 

revising previously reported data, which TPA claims is how pipelines book such 

adjustments for accounting purposes. 

71. The Commission clarifies that Form No. 549D reports should reflect the data on 

the billing statements to customers. If a pipeline’s billing policy for prior period 

adjustments is to revise the prior bill, then that pipeline should resubmit its Form 

No. 549D for that prior quarterly time period. If, however, a pipeline’s billing policy for 

prior period adjustments is to bill for the quarter when the discrepancy is discovered, as 

 74 See Instruction Manual for Electronic Filing of the Index of Customers, OMB 

Form No. 1902-0169 at 5 (June 2000), available at http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/forms/form-549b/elec-inst.pdf. 

75 TPA at 9. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 52 - 

 

TPA suggests, then that pipeline should submit the adjusted data as part of its upcoming 

report rather than revising prior reports. Either way, the Form No. 549D data should 

match the data in the pipeline’s own billing systems, so as to reduce the pipeline’s 

recordkeeping burden and also to avoid systemic discrepancies in the event of an audit. 

Furthermore, in order to aid Respondents who may need to correct a previous Form 

No. 549D report for any reason, the Commission will insert a Field 3A in the report, in 

which Respondents may provide a short explanation of why they are resubmitting a prior 

report. 

72. TPA also requests that the Commission clarify how Respondents should handle 

contracts that were not active during a given quarter. TPA cites the appendix to the Final 

Rule as explaining that “pipelines that did not provide any interstate services to any 

shipper” at all need only fill out the initial fields in Form No. 549D, and not the 

remainder of the form.76 TPA states that it is unclear, however, how to respond if “gas 

flows under some contracts but not others,” and recommends that pipelines only “report 

the contracts where [jurisdictional] gas flowed.”77

76 TPA at 10. 

77 Id. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 53 - 

73. The Commission grants the requested clarification. Respondents need not include 

in their quarterly reports any contracts for which no Commission-jurisdictional gas has 

flowed in that quarter. 

F. Semi-Annual Storage Report

74. Enogex, Jefferson, and TPA all argue that the semi-annual storage report (Form 

No. 537, required by 18 CFR 284.126(c)) will be duplicative and burdensome as soon as 

section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines begin reporting on Form No. 549D. They argue that 

since the Commission “will be able to distill all of the relevant information presently 

reported on the existing Form No. 537 from the new Form No. 549D,”78 there is “no 

justification for”79 collecting “this duplicative storage activity information in dissimilar 

formats.”80 Accordingly, they urge the Commission to eliminate the semi-annual storage 

report. 

75. While there is substantial overlap between Form No. 537 and Form No. 549D, it 

remains unclear whether the new quarterly report renders the semi-annual storage report 

obsolete. The semi-annual storage report collects certain information that the quarterly 

reports do not. This includes the volumes actually injected and withdrawn during the 

 78 TPA at 6. 

79 Enogex at 20. 

80 Jefferson at 8. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 54 - 

injection and withdrawal seasons. In addition, as discussed above, the quarterly reports 

required by this rule will not require per-customer revenue data to be reported. 

Moreover, since the semi-annual reporting periods are tied to the injection and 

withdrawal season, the time periods covered also do not correspond precisely to two 

Form No. 549D quarterly reports. Thus, we will not eliminate Form No. 537 at this time. 

76. However, we find that the Commission should reconsider the utility of the semiannual storage reports for interstate and intrastate storage companies. As Enogex, 

Jefferson, and TPA argue, the Commission should seek to eliminate truly duplicative 

reporting requirements. Throughout this rulemaking proceeding, the Commission has 

also sought to standardize and equalize reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate 

providers wherever it is warranted. Thus, any consideration of abolishing or reforming 

the intrastate semi-annual storage report should be accompanied by a similar review of 

the interstate semi-annual storage report. Finally, the semi-annual storage reports are 

now anomalous among Commission reports in their respondents’ liberal use of requests 

for privileged treatment, which has recently led to calls that these reports be made public. 

Accordingly, simultaneously with this order, the Commission is issuing a Notice of 

Inquiry under a separate docket, Docket No. RM11-4-000, to explore reforms to the 

semi-annual storage reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate storage 

companies. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 55 - 

G. Effective Date and Technical Workshop

77. Jefferson argues on rehearing that the Commission should delay the effective date 

of Order No. 735 from April 1, 2011 until October 1, 2011. Jefferson also requests that 

the Commission hold a technical workshop at least 6 months before the effective date, 

and post the XML Schema as soon as possible. Jefferson argues that since the 

Commission has not yet posted a version of the XML Schema that is compatible for 

electronic submission, it cannot yet determine the procedures that it will use to collect 

data and compile its first report. 

78. The draft revisions to Form No. 549D81 are being submitted to OMB for review 

and approval. Above in this order, we have pushed back the due date of the first 

quarterly report under the new regulations from May 1, 2011 to June 1, 2011. A print 

only version of the PDF form is provided in the Appendix to this order, and Commission 

Staff will post the XML Schema and fillable PDF to the FERC website as soon as 

available and permitted by OMB. We consider this to be sufficient advance notice, 

considering that Jefferson is the only pipeline to have expressed concern on rehearing 

that the effective date is too soon. We also direct Commission Staff to hold a technical 

workshop on issues of implementation, the time and date of which will be announced in a 

 81 The previous Form No. 549D was approved under OMB Control No. 1902-

0253. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 56 - 

separate notice in this docket after we receive OMB approval of the revised Form 

No. 549D.82 

III. Information Collection Statement

79. OMB regulations require that OMB approve certain reporting, recordkeeping, and 

public disclosure (collections of information) imposed by an agency.83 The information 

collection requirements included in Commission Order No. 735 for Form No. 549D were 

approved under OMB Control No. 1902-0253. This order further revises the 

requirements in order to retract the increased requirements for contract end dates and percustomer revenue, to more clearly state the obligations imposed in Order No. 735, and to 

extend the reporting deadlines. Because the Commission has made “substantive or 

material modifications” to the information collection requirement, we will submit Form 

No. 549D to OMB for review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act.84

80. The Commission identifies the information provided under Part 284 as contained 

in FERC Form No. 549D. The Commission solicited comments on the need for this 

 82 The technical workshop shall be to discuss implementation of the draft reporting 

requirements. The technical workshop will not address legal or policy issues that are 

more appropriately raised through requests for rehearing or clarification, including any 

changes to the form, instructions, and definitions that would require OMB approval, nor 

will it address the semi-annual storage reports. 

83 5 CFR 1320. 

84 See 44 U.S.C. 3507(h)(3). 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 57 - 

 

information, whether the information would provide useful transparency, ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and any 

suggested methods for minimizing Respondents’ burden. Where commenters raised 

concerns that information collection requirements would be burdensome to implement, 

the Commission has addressed those concerns above in this order. The Commission does 

not change its burden estimate from that provided in Order No. 735.85

81. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements by 

contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, 

Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen Brown, Office of the Executive Director]

 e-mail: DataClearance@ferc.gov, Phone: (202) 502-8663, Fax: (202) 273-0873. 

For submitting comments concerning the collection of information, please send your 

comments to the Commission and to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503, 

[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] Phone: 

(202) 395-4638, Fax: (202) 395-7285. Due to security concerns, comments should be 

sent electronically to OMB at the following e-mail address: 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please reference OMB Control No. 1902-0253 and the 

docket number of this order in your submission. 

85 See Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 106-108. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 58 - 

IV. Environmental Analysis

82. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment or an 

Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a significant adverse effect 

on the human environment.86 The Commission has categorically excluded certain 

actions from these requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 

environment.87 The actions taken here fall within categorical exclusions in the 

Commission’s regulations for rules that are corrective; clarifying or procedural; for 

information gathering, analysis, and dissemination; and for sales, exchange, and 

transportation of natural gas that requires no construction of facilities.88 Therefore an 

environmental review is unnecessary and has not been prepared in this rulemaking. 

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

83. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA)89 generally requires a description 

and analysis of final rules that will have significant economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The Commission is not required to make such analysis if 

proposed regulations would not have such an effect. For the reasons stated in Order 

 86 Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 

Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987). 

87 18 CFR 380.4. 

88 See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), and 380.4(a)(27). 

89 5 U.S.C. 601-612. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 59 - 

No. 735,90 the Commission certifies that this Final Rule’s amendments to the regulations 

will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. 

VI. Document Availability

84. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, 

except for the Appendix, the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity 

to view and/or print the contents of this document, including the Appendix, via the 

Internet through FERC’s Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC’s Public 

Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 

888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington DC 20426. 

85. From FERC’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. The report and instructions also will be made available through the 

Commission’s Forms page, http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/forms.asp, upon approval by 

OMB. 

86. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC’s website during normal 

business hours from FERC Online Support at 202-502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) 

 90 See Order No. 735, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,310 at P 111. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 60 - 

or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-

8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

VII. Effective Date

87. These further revisions to the reporting regulations will be effective April 1, 2011, 

the same date as in the Final Rule. The quarterly report for transactions occurring during 

the period January 1, 2011 through March 31, 2011, must be filed on or before 

June 1, 2011. The Commission has determined that this rule is not a “major rule” as 

defined in section 351 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996. 

List of subjects in 18 CFR Part 284 

Continental shelf, Natural gas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. 

By the Commission. 

( S E A L ) 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 61 - 

In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends Part 284, 

Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as amended at 75 FR 29404 on 

May 26, 2010, as follows. 

PART 284 – CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS 

UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED 

AUTHORITIES 

1. The authority citation for Part 284 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w, 3301-3432; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352; 43 U.S.C. 1331-1356 

2. In § 284.126, as amended at 75 FR 29404 on May 26, 2010, paragraphs (b)(1)(vi), 

(b)(1)(viii), and (b)(2) are revised to read as follows: 

§ 284.126 Reporting requirements.

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(vi) The duration of the contract, specifying the beginning and (for firm 

contracts only) ending month and year of the current agreement; 

* * * * * 

(viii) Annual revenues received for each shipper, excluding revenues from 

storage services. The report should separately state revenues 

received under each component, and need only be reported every 

fourth quarter. 

(2) The quarterly Form No. 549D report for the period January 1 through March 31 
Docket No. RM09-2-001 - 62 - 

must be filed on or before June 1. The quarterly report for the period April 1 

through June 30 must be filed on or before September 1. The quarterly report 

for the period July 1 through September 30 must be filed on or before 

December 1. The quarterly report for the period October 1 through December 

31 must be filed on or before March 1. 

* * * * *