Opinion ID: 328128
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: fpc jurisdiction

Text: 4 Petitioners contend that since the sale and transportation involved in this transaction are admittedly exempt from FPC jurisdiction, the Commission erred in concluding that the operations of Hopkinton and DOMAC in the same transaction were jurisdictional. It is petitioners' view that since the interstate transportation of LNG by truck is nonjurisdictional, the storage and transportation of LNG intrastate ought to be nonjurisdictional and outside the provisions of section 1(b). Petitioners would have us find support for their position from the express declaration in section 1(c) that sales exempt under its provisions are matters primarily of local concern. See note 2 supra. 5 In terms of common sense, there is much to be said for petitioners' view. By asserting jurisdiction over the storage facilities in this proposed transaction, the Commission has in effect placed an otherwise exempt transaction under its regulation. Moreover, the Commission has not explained how its statutory functions are served by regulating such a transaction when storage rather than distribution follows an intrastate exempt sale. 6 But while common sense may be on the side of petitioners, the Act, as worded and construed, supports the Commission. The FPC has jurisdiction over all companies involved in the transportation or sale of gas in interstate commerce until the gas reaches local distribution, unless the company is exempt under the Act. See generally FPC v. East Ohio Gas Co., 338 U.S. 464, 70 S.Ct. 266, 94 L.Ed. 268 (1949); Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. v. Public Service Commission, 332 U.S. 507, 68 S.Ct. 190, 92 L.Ed. 128 (1947); cf. Illinois Gas Co. v. Public Serv. Co., 314 U.S. 498, 62 S.Ct. 384, 86 L.Ed. 371 (1942). Here, the exempt status of the Commonwealth-Cape sale does not control whether the storage companies engaged in the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce within the meaning of section 1(b). The gas supplied to Commonwealth originally moved interstate through pipelines before liquefaction and storage at Hopkinton, and petitioners have not shown that the Hopkinton and DOMAC facilities are exempt under section 1(b) or 1(c). 7 We find, therefore, no error in the Commission's assertion of jurisdiction.