[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25661-25662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12850]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. RM93-11-000]


Revisions To Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992

    (Issued May 16, 1996.)

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Annual Change in the Producers Price Index for 
Finished Goods, Minus One Percent.

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SUMMARY: The Commission is issuing the index that oil pipelines must 
apply to their July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 rate ceiling levels to 
compute their rate ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1996, through 
June 30, 1997, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). This index, which is 
the percent change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average 
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods from 1994 to 1995, minus one 
percent, is .009124. Oil pipelines must multiply their July 1, 1995-
June 30, 1996 rate ceiling levels by 1.009124 to compute their rate 
ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1996 through June 30, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Veloso, Office of Economic 
Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-2008

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all 
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of 
this document during normal business hours

[[Page 25662]]

at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic 
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal 
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to 
the user and may be accessed using a personal computer with a modem by 
dialing (202) 208-1397 if dialing locally or 1-800-856-3720 if dialing 
long distance. To access CIPS, set your communications software to use 
19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps, full duplex, 
no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit. The full text of this document 
will be available on CIPS indefinitely in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 
format. The complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may also be 
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, La Dorn Systems 
Corporation, also located in the Public Reference Room at 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

Notice of Annual Change in the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, 
Minus One Percent

    Issued May 16, 1996.

    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rate through use of an index systems that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The index system as set 
forth at 18 CFR 342.3 is based on the annual change in the Producer 
Prince Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG), minus one percent. The 
regulations provide that each year the Commission will publish an index 
reflecting the final change in the PPI-FG, minus one percent, after the 
final PPI-FG is made available by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 
of each calendar year.
    The annual average PPI-FG index figure for 1994 was 125.5 and the 
annual average PPI-FG index for 1995 was 127.9.\1\ Thus, the percent 
change (expressed as a decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 1994 
to 1995, minus one percent, is .009124.\2\ Oil pipelines must multiply 
their July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 rate ceiling levels by 1.009124 to 
compute their rate ceiling levels for the period July 1, 1996, through 
June 30, 1997, in accordance with 18 342.3(d).
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    \1\ The final figure for the annual average PPI-FG is published 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in mid-May of each year. This 
figure is publicly available from the Division of Industrial Prices 
and Price Indexes of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at (202) 606-
7705, and is available in print in August in Table 1 of the annual 
data supplement to the BLS publication Producer Price Indexes.
    \2\ [127.9-125.5]/125.5=.019124; .019124-.01=.009124.
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    To obtain July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 ceiling levels, pipelines must 
first calculate their ceiling levels for the January 1, 1995-June 30, 
1995 index period, by multiplying their December 31, 1994 rates by 
1.009175. Pipelines must then multiply those ceiling levels. Finally, 
pipelines must multiply their July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996 ceiling levels 
by 1.009124 to obtain the July 1, 1996-June 30, 1997 ceiling levels. 
See Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC para. 61,416 at n. 6 (1995) for 
an explanation of how ceiling levels must be calculated.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-12850 Filed 5-21-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M