10266 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 44 / Thursday, March 6, 1997 / Notices

1Pipeline Service Obligations and Revisions to

Regulations Governing Self-Implementing

Transportation; and Regulation of Natural Gas

Pipelines After Partial Wellhead Decontrol, [Regs.

Preambles Jan. 1991–June 1996] FERC Stats. & Regs.

¶ 30,939 (1992), order on reh’g, Order No. 636–A,

[Regs. Preambles Jan. 1991–June 1992] FERC Stats.

& Regs. ¶ 30,950 (1992), order on reh’g, Order No.

636–B, 61 FERC ¶ 61,272 (1992), reh’g denied, 62

FERC ¶ 61,007 (1993).

2For example, the winters of 1993–94 and 1995–

96 were relatively cold and capacity in some

regions was tight, and the winter of 1994–95

relatively warm and capacity was unusually slack

in some regions.

A copy of this filing was caused to be

served upon the Okanogan Public

Utility District as noted in the filing

letter.

Comment date: March 13, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

25. New England Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–1668–000]

Take notice that on February 12, 1997,

New England Power Company (NEP)

filed a Service Agreement with

Fitchburg Gas & Electric Co. (FG&E) for

non-firm, point-to-point transmission

service under NEP’s open access

transmission tariff, FERC Electric Tariff,

Original Volume No. 9.

Comment date: March 13, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

26. Public Service Company of New

Mexico

[Docket No. ER97–1669–000]

Take notice that on February 12, 1997,

Public Service Company of New Mexico

(PNM), submitted for filing an executed

service agreement under the terms of

PNM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff

with Southwestern Public Service

Company. PNM’s filing is available for

public inspection at its offices in

Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Comment date: March 13, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

27. Southern Company Services, Inc.

[Docket No. ER97–1670–000]

Take notice that on February 12, 1997,

Southern Company Services, Inc.

(SCSI), acting on behalf of Alabama

Power Company, Georgia Power

Company, Gulf Power Company,

Mississippi Power Company and

Savannah Electric and Power Company

(collectively referred to as Southern

Companies) filed two (2) service

agreements under Southern Companies’

Market-Based Rate Power Sales Tariff

(FERC Electric Tariff, Original Volume

No. 4) with the following entities: (i)

Illinois Power Company; and (ii)

Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc.

SCSI states that the service agreements

will enable Southern Companies to

engage in short-term market-based rate

transactions with this entity.

Comment date: March 13, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

28. Black Brook Energy Company

[Docket No. ER97–1676–000]

Take notice that on February 12, 1997,

Black Brook Energy Company tendered

for filing a Petition for Initial Rate

Schedule, Waivers and Blanket

Authority.

Comment date: March 13, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

29. City of Vernon, California

[Docket No. OA97–524–000]

Take notice that on February 7, 1997,

City of Vernon, California (Vernon) filed

an application for waiver of the

requirements of Order No. 889. Vernon

states that it meets the standards

enunciated by the Commission for

eligibility for such a waiver.

Comment date: March 20, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraph

E. Any person desiring to be heard or

to protest said filing should file a

motion to intervene or protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

the comment date. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–5481 Filed 3–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

[Project Nos. 11285–003]

Casitas Municipal Water District;

Notice of Extension of Comment Date

February 28, 1997.

Because of delayed newspaper

publication of the notice issued

February 5, 1997 (62 FR 8235, February

24, 1997), for the Lake Casitas Power

Project, the comment date in item j. is

being extended from March 25, 1997 to

April 1, 1997.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–5480 Filed 3–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Docket No. PL97–1–000]

Issues and Priorities for the Natural

Gas Industry; Notice of Public

Conference and Opportunity To

Comment

February 28, 1997.

Take notice that the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission is convening a

public conference on May 29 and 30,

1997, to conduct a broad inquiry into

the important issues facing the natural

gas industry today, and the

Commission’s regulation of the industry

for the future. The Commission expects

a broad ranging discussion that will

allow the members of the Commission

to discuss these issues with the

industry, and the public generally, in

order for the Commission to establish its

regulatory goals and priorities in the

post-Order No. 636 1 environment. We

anticipate engaging all industry

segments in a dialogue about how the

industry currently works, how the

industry is changing, and how the

Commission’s regulatory policies

should respond to such changes in the

marketplace.

I. Background

Since the issuance and

implementation of Order No. 636,

natural gas markets have developed

rapidly and the industry has gained

experience functioning under different

conditions.2 Also, significant changes in

the structure of the natural gas industry

have occurred since Order No. 636

issued. These include consolidation in

the ownership of interstate pipelines,

the spin-off and spin-down of gathering

with the potential for state regulation,

the emergence of mega marketers, and

the emerging electric and gas

convergence. In addition, many more

market centers exist today, offering a

wide array of services that increase the

flexibility of the system and facilitate

connections between gas sellers and

buyers. These services commonly

include wheeling, parking, loaning, and

storage.

The interstate pipeline transportation

grid has expanded significantly, offering