Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-271_j4ek.pdf
Page Number: 7.0

4 

ONEOK, INC. v. LEARJET, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

the  Federal  Power  Commission  (FPC)).    That  authority 
allows  FERC  to  determine  whether  “any  rate,  charge,  or 
classification . . . collected by any  natural-gas company in
connection with any transportation or sale of natural gas, 
subject to the jurisdiction of [FERC],” or “any rule, regula­
tion,  practice,  or  contract  affecting  such  rate,  charge,  or 
classification  is  unjust,  unreasonable,  unduly  discrimina­
tory,  or  preferential.”    15  U. S. C.  §717d(a)  (emphasis 
added).  As  the  italicized  words  make  clear,  §5(a)  limits
the  scope  of  FERC’s  authority  to  activities  “in  connection 
with  any  transportation  or  sale  of  natural  gas,  subject  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Commission.” 
Ibid.  (emphasis
added).  And the Act, in §1(b), limits FERC’s “jurisdiction” to 
(1)  “the  transportation  of  natural  gas  in  interstate  com­
merce,” (2) “the sale in interstate commerce of natural gas
for  resale,”  and  (3)  “natural-gas  companies  engaged  in 
such  transportation  or  sale.”  §717(b).  The  Act  leaves 
regulation  of  other  portions  of  the  industry—such  as  pro­
duction,  local  distribution  facilities,  and  direct  sales—to 
the States.  See Northwest Central Pipeline Corp. v. State 
Corporation  Comm’n  of  Kan.,  489  U. S.  493,  507  (1989) 
(Section  1(b)  of  the  Act  “expressly”  provides  that  “States 
retain  jurisdiction  over  intrastate  transportation,  local 
distribution,  and  distribution  facilities,  and  over  ‘the 
production or gathering of natural gas’ ”).

To  simplify  our  discussion,  we  shall  describe  the  firms
that engage in interstate transportation as “jurisdictional 
sellers”  or  “interstate  pipelines”  (though  various  brokers 
and  others  may  also  fall  within  the  Act’s  jurisdictional 
scope).  Similarly,  we  shall  refer  to  the  sales  over  which 
FERC  has  jurisdiction  as  “jurisdictional  sales”  or  “whole­
sale sales.” 

2 
Until the 1970’s, natural-gas regulation roughly tracked
the  industry  model  we  described  above.    Interstate  pipe­