Pennsylvania Code › Title 52 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part I - Public Utility Commission › Subpart C - Fixed Service Utilities › Chapter 62 - NATURAL GAS SUPPLY CUSTOMER CHOICE › Subchapter E - STANDARDS OF CONDUCT › Section 62.142 - Standards of Conduct

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
General requirements
. NGDCs and NGSs shall comply with the
					 following requirements:
(1) An NGDC shall
					 apply its tariffs in a nondiscriminatory manner to its affiliated NGS and a
					 nonaffiliated NGS.
(2) An NGDC may
					 not apply a tariff provision in a manner that would give its affiliated NGS
					 preference over other NGSs with regard to matters such as scheduling,
					 balancing, transportation, storage, curtailment, capacity release and
					 assignment, nondelivery and other services provided to its affiliated
					 NGS.
(3) Mandatory tariff
					 provisions may not be waived by an NGDC for an NGS absent prior approval of the
					 Commission.
(4) When a tariff
					 provision is not mandatory or provides for waivers, an NGDC shall grant the
					 waivers without preference to its affiliated NGS or nonaffiliated
					 NGS.
(5) An NGDC shall maintain a
					 chronological log of tariff provisions for which it has granted waivers.
					 Entries must include the name of the party receiving the waiver, the date and
					 time of the request, the specific tariff provision waived and the reason for
					 the waiver. The chronological log must be open for public inspection during
					 normal business hours. When the NGDC maintains a website, it shall post the
					 terms set forth in this paragraph on its website for at least 3
					 months.
(6) An NGDC shall process
					 requests for distribution services promptly and in a nondiscriminatory fashion
					 with respect to other requests received in the same or a similar period. An
					 NGDC shall maintain a chronological log showing the processing of requests for
					 transportation services. The chronological log must be open for public
					 inspection during normal business hours.
(7) If an NGDC provides a distribution
					 service discount, fee waiver or rebate to its favored customers, or to the
					 favored customers of its affiliated NGS, the NGDC shall offer the same
					 distribution service discount, fee waiver or rebate to other similarly situated
					 customers. Offers may not be tied to an unrelated service, incentive or offer
					 on behalf of either the NGDC or its affiliated NGS. A chronological log shall
					 be maintained showing the date, party, time and rationale for the action. The
					 chronological log must be open for public inspection during normal business
					 hours.
(8) Subject to customer
					 privacy or confidentiality constraints, an NGDC may not disclose, directly or
					 indirectly, any customer proprietary information to its affiliated NGS unless
					 authorized by the customer. To the extent that an NGDC does disclose customer
					 information without customer authorization, it shall first seek the permission
					 of the customer consistent with its tariffs, any contractual obligations it may
					 have to the customer or §
												62.78 (relating to privacy of
					 customer information) and, if that customer grants permission,
					 contemporaneously provide this same information to other similarly situated
					 NGSs in a similar fashion so as not to selectively disclose, delay disclosure
					 or give itself or its affiliated NGS an advantage related to the disclosure. A
					 chronological log shall be maintained showing the date, party, time and
					 rationale for the disclosure. The chronological log must be open for public
					 inspection during normal business hours. This paragraph does not apply to the
					 disclosure of customer information made under a customer assistance program
					 mandated by State law or regulation.
(9) An NGDC shall reasonably allocate to its
					 affiliated NGS the costs or expenses for general administration or support
					 services provided to its affiliated NGS.
(10) NGDCs may not condition or tie the
					 provision of a product, service or price agreement by the NGDC, including
					 release of interstate pipeline capacity, to the provision of a product or
					 service by its affiliated NGS.
(11)
					 An NGDC may not give its affiliated NGS preference over a nonaffiliated NGS in
					 the provision of goods and services including processing requests for
					 information, complaints and responses to service interruptions. An NGDC shall
					 provide comparable treatment in its provision of goods and services without
					 regard to a customer's chosen NGS.
(12) An NGDC and its affiliated NGS shall
					 maintain separate books and records. Transactions between the NGDC and its
					 affiliated NGS may not involve cross-subsidies. Shared facilities must be fully
					 and transparently allocated between the NGDC function and the affiliated NGS
					 function. The NGDC accounts and records shall be maintained so that the costs
					 incurred on behalf of an affiliated NGS are clearly identified.
(13) NGDC employees who have responsibility
					 for operating the distribution system, including natural gas delivery or
					 billing and metering, as well as those responsible for marketing and customer
					 service, may not be shared with an affiliated NGS, and their offices shall be
					 physically separated from the offices used by those working for the affiliated
					 NGS. NGDC employees may transfer to an affiliated NGS provided the transfer is
					 not used as a means to circumvent these standards of conduct.
(14) Neither the NGDC nor its affiliated NGS
					 may directly, or by implication, falsely and unfairly represent to a customer,
					 NGS or third party that an advantage may accrue to a party through use of the
					 NGDC's affiliates or subsidiary, such as:
(i)
					 The Commission-regulated services provided by the NGDC are of a superior
					 quality when services are purchased from its affiliated NGS.
(ii) The merchant services for natural gas
					 are being provided by the NGDC when they are in fact being provided by an
					 affiliated NGS.
(iii) The natural
					 gas purchased from a nonaffiliated NGS may not be reliably delivered.
(iv) Natural gas shall be purchased from an
					 affiliated NGS to receive Commission-regulated services.
(15) When an affiliated NGS markets or
					 communicates to the public using the NGDC name or logo, it shall include a
					 legible disclaimer that states that:
(i) The
					 affiliated NGS is not the same company as the NGDC.
(ii) The prices of the affiliated NGS are not
					 regulated by the Commission.
(iii)
					 A customer does not have to buy natural gas or other products from the
					 affiliated NGS to receive the same quality of service from the NGDC.
(16) When an affiliated NGS
					 advertises or communicates verbally through radio or television to the public
					 using the NGDC name or logo, the affiliated NGS shall include at the conclusion
					 of the communication a legible disclaimer that includes all of the disclaimers
					 in paragraph (15)(i)-(iii).
(17) An
					 NGDC may not:
(i) Jointly market or jointly
					 package its Commission-regulated services with the services of an affiliated
					 NGS.
(ii) Offer or provide to its
					 affiliated NGS products or services, including bill inserts in its NGDC bills
					 promoting an affiliated NGS's services or a link from the NGDC's website,
					 unless the NGDC offers or provides these products or services to nonaffiliated
					 NGSs on the same terms and conditions.
(iii) The restrictions in subparagraphs (i)
					 and (ii) do not apply to competitive bid situations.
(18) An NGDC may not offer or sell natural
					 gas commodity or capacity to its affiliated NGS without simultaneously posting
					 the offering electronically on a source generally available to the market or by
					 otherwise making a sufficient offer to the market. The NGDC shall maintain a
					 chronological log of these public disseminations. The chronological log must be
					 open for public inspection during normal business hours.
(19) An NGDC shall establish and file with
					 the Commission complaint procedures for dealing with alleged violations of the
					 standards of conduct, with the exception of paragraph (9), which is exclusively
					 under the purview of the Commission. These procedures shall be developed in
					 consultation with interested parties during consideration of tariffs guided by
					 this section and §
												69.191 (relating to general). The
					 Commission may grant an exception to these requirements if warranted by the
					 facts or circumstances.
(20) An
					 NGDC shall keep a chronological log of any complaints filed, excepting those
					 filed to paragraph (9), regarding discriminatory treatment of NGSs. This
					 chronological log must include the date and nature of the complaint and the
					 resolution of the complaint. The chronological log must be open for inspection
					 during normal business hours.