Hess Corp. Poses Some New Arguments Challenging FERC’s Reservation Charge Crediting Policy As It Applies to PHMSA-Caused Outages

摘要

Hess Corp. has requested rehearing of FERC’s May 30 order that conditionally accepted the filing of Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) (RP13-875) to revise its Reservation Charge Reimbursement provision in its tariff. Hess urged the Commission to modify the May 30 order to require PNGTS to provide full reservation charge credits for any failure to provide firm service if that failure is attributed to any order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The Commission applied its customary policy to allow modification of its full crediting mandate for a two-year interim period commencing 6/1/13, the proposed effective date of the filing. At a minimum, if the Commission will not require full credits, Hess argued that the Commission should require PNGTS to provide credits based on the “No Profit” method.