Opinion ID: 524947
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Disclosure Requirement is Anticompetitive

Text: 36 Hadson also argues that disclosing the names of end-users to Tennessee would be anticompetitive because Tennessee, in its role as gas merchant, could use that information to launch a marketing offensive against Hadson's customers. By approving the disclosure requirement, Hadson asserts, the Commission lost sight of its duty to facilitate the flow of competitively-priced gas into the hands of gas consumers everywhere. AGD, 824 F.2d at 1038. Hadson fails to explain, at the outset, how competition for Hadson's customers from Tennessee would be anticompetitive. Nevertheless, even assuming that Hadson's fears may be legitimate in some instances, we find those fears premature in this case. 8 37 Hadson alerts us to two methods by which Tennessee qua gas merchant could utilize the end-user information. First, Hadson suggests that Tennessee might pass the end-user information to its marketing affiliate, which could then attempt to lure away Hadson's customers. Second, Tennessee could obtain an Interruptible Sales Service (ISS) certificate, which would allow Tennessee itself to sell any gas in excess of the requirements of its on-system customers to any end-users, and thereby compete with Hadson directly. 38 Hadson concedes, however, that Tennessee is not sharing end-user information with its marketing affiliate. Indeed, a FERC regulation expressly prohibits pipelines from sharing this kind of information with their marketing affiliates. See Order No. 497, 53 Fed.Reg. 22,139, 22,146, 22,161 (June 14, 1988) (discussed infra ). The mere suggestion that Tennessee may be tempted in the future to violate that regulation and pass the information to its marketing affiliate is insufficient to justify a determination that the Commission disregarded its duty to promote competition. If Tennessee should someday abuse the end-user information, the Commission will be positioned to take appropriate action. 39 Similarly, Hadson concedes that Tennessee does not possess an ISS certificate. Again, Hadson urges us to address a potential problem before the Commission has had a chance to confront it. Should Tennessee apply for an ISS certificate, Hadson is free to intervene in a Commission proceeding and urge FERC's rejection of Tennessee's application or, at least, Commission imposition of conditions to prevent misuse of the end-user information. In short, Hadson's claims here are unripe for review. 9 40