Document ID: FERC-2010-0260-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Technical Conference: Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act
Posted Date: 2010-03-01T05:00Z

[Federal Register: March 1, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 39)]
[Notices]               
[Page 9202-9203]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01mr10-69]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM07-10-002]

 
Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act; 
Notice of Form No. 552 Technical Conference

February 22, 2010.
    Take notice that on March 25, 2010, a technical conference will be 
convened to consider certain issues concerning Form No. 552, related to 
Order Nos. 704, 704-A and 704-B.\1\ The technical conference will be 
held in the

[[Page 9203]]

Commission Meeting Room at the headquarters of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC, from 9 
a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT). The conference will be open to the public; there 
is no registration to attend.\2\
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    \1\ Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas 
Act, Order No. 704, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,260 (2007) (Final 
Rule); Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, 
Order No. 704-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,275 (2008); and 
Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, Order 
No. 704-B, 125 FERC ] 61,302 (2008).
    \2\ A Notice of Extension of Time is being issued concurrently 
with this notice granting all natural gas participants an extension 
of time until July 1, 2010 to file their Form No. 552 for calendar 
year 2009.
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    On December 26, 2007, the Commission issued Order No. 704, 
Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act. The Final 
Rule, among other things, requires natural gas market participants to 
report sales and purchase volumes of physical natural gas that use, 
contribute to, or may contribute to the formation of a price index 
during a calendar year. On September 18, 2008, the Commission issued 
Order 704-A Order on Rehearing and Clarification and on December 18, 
2008 the Commission issued Order 704-B, Order Dismissing Rehearing 
Request as Deficient, Denying Reconsideration, and Granting and Denying 
Clarification.
    On October 9, 2009 and November 3, 2009, the American Gas 
Association and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, respectively, submitted 
supplemental comments requesting clarification of certain reporting 
requirements in Form No. 552. Staff has also identified other areas in 
the form that require clarification and inconsistencies in reporting 
physical natural gas transactions that arose during data collection and 
outreach. The inconsistencies and issues identified and discussed below 
will be the subject of the technical conference for Form No. 552. The 
Commission may elect to modify Form No. 552 following reviews of the 
supplemental comments requesting clarification and its own 
clarifications after the technical conference.
    The technical conference will address only the issues identified by 
staff. The topics for discussion at the conference are: (1) 
Inconsistencies in reporting upstream transactions in the natural gas 
supply chain on Form No. 552, and whether these transactions contribute 
to wholesale price formation; (2) whether transactions involving 
balancing, cash-out, operational, and in-kind transactions should be 
reported on Form No. 552; and (3) whether the units of measurement 
(TBtu) currently used for reporting volumes in the form are 
appropriate.
    Order No. 704-A held that transactions involving unprocessed 
natural gas were not reportable on Form No. 552. The Commission also 
held that transactions regarding unprocessed natural gas should not be 
counted when determining whether an entity falls below the de minimis 
threshold.
    Through various outreach efforts and data collected in Form No. 552 
for calendar year 2008, Commission staff has learned that substantial 
volumes of upstream natural gas transactions may not be reflected in 
Form No. 552, because of inconsistent reporting practices. The sales 
and purchase volumes of upstream natural gas transactions are currently 
reportable on Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or may 
contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff believes that Form 
No. 552 filers have interpreted this requirement in various ways based 
on their unique situations. Therefore, staff would like to gain a 
better understanding of industry reporting practices for upstream 
transactions in the natural gas supply chain and to determine whether 
upstream natural gas contributes to wholesale price formation.
    In Orders 704-A and 704-B, the Commission found that balancing, 
cash-out, operational, in-kind, and similar transactions must be 
reported in Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or could 
contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff has preliminary 
indications that the volumes of natural gas identified as cash-outs are 
relatively low in relation to the total reportable physical natural gas 
reported on Form No. 552. Therefore, staff is seeking to better 
understand the burden and benefits of reporting these volumes.
    Finally, filers have expressed confusion about the requirement in 
Form No. 552 to report transactions in trillion Btus (TBtu). Converting 
data to TBtus led to a number of filing errors, and subsequent 
resubmissions to correct the data were required. Staff is seeking 
feedback on whether changing the reporting units to an industry 
standard unit of measure like decatherms would facilitate reporting.
    An agenda for the conference will be issued in a later notice. This 
technical conference will not be webcast. It will be transcribed. 
Transcripts of the conference will be available immediately for a fee 
from Ace Reporting Company (202-347-3700 or 1-800-336-6646).
    Any person interested in filing comments after the conference 
should do so in this docket by April 2, 2010. A person is not required 
to have attended the conference in order to file comments on the 
specific topics herein.
    Commission conferences and meetings are accessible under section 
508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations 
please send an e-mail to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free (866) 
208-3372 (voice) or 202-502-8659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202-208-2106 
with the required accommodations.
    For additional information, please contact Christopher Peterson at 
202-502-8933 or Christopher.Peterson@ferc.gov and Thomas Russo at 202-
502-8792 or Thomas.Russo@ferc.gov of FERC's Office of Enforcement.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-4089 Filed 2-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P