FERC Approves Alaska's Request for Waiver of Posting and Bidding Rules in Order to Facilitate Releases of Capacity in Circumstances of Royalty Option Shifting

摘要

By order issued 1/28/10, FERC ruled that the unique circumstances of the Alaska Gas Pipeline Project, the State of Alaska's royalty switching rights, and local consumption needs within Alaska, justify a limited waiver of the capacity release posting and bidding rules as requested by the State (RP10-145), subject to several conditions: (1) if the State uses the waiver to take a capacity release from one producer, then it must offer to do the same with other similarly-situated producers on any Alaska Gas Pipeline Project; and (2) the waiver must apply to all firm capacity held by producer-shippers and is not limited to firm capacity acquired by a producer-shipper during the initial open season. In its pleadings, the State maintains it will not discriminate against any producer-shipper and the waiver would apply to either pipeline project. Thus, the condition holds the State to its agreement and should alleviate the concerns of certain parties, such as Conoco and Denali, concerning potential discrimination.