Pipelines: Filed Rate Doctrine; Antitrust Claims Court Jurisdiction, Procedure and Review: Federal Preemption

摘要

Plaintiffs are shippers, wholesalers, and marketers of natural gas who transport and store gas on the interstate pipelines owned by Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation (TCO), Columbia Gulf Transmission Company and Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP (pipeline defendants). The other defendants are eight (8) natural gas shippers (select shipper defendants) who were allegedly given preferential access to storage capacity and transportation on the interstate pipeline system in exchange for "kickback" payments. Specifically, plaintiffs allege mat the pipeline defendants allowed the select shippers to store gas on the pipeline system during the warmer months for resale during the colder months. Further, plaintiffs allege that the select shippers were able to "borrow" gas off the pipeline system during the colder months for resale at a high price and replace the borrowed gas during the warmer months at a low price. Plaintiffs also allege the select shippers were given preferential transportation services. While these activities were occurring, TCO obtains a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to operate a parking and lending service (PAL) that permits shippers to park gas on the pipeline system or borrow gas from the system on an interruptible basis, i.e, the PAL services would be interrupted by higher priority shipping contracts. After the implementation of the PAL service, plaintiffs allege that the pipeline defendants continued their preferential treatment of the select shippers. Furthermore, the pipeline defendants interrupted the higher priority shipping and transportation agreements of the plaintiffs in favor of the interruptible agreements of the select shippers who accessed the PAL service. In 1999, the pipeline defendants voluntarily inform FERC tiiat "gas imbalances" occurred on the system prior to the issuance of the PAL license. FERC investigates and subsequendy approves a Stipulation and Consent Agreement with the pipeline defendants. The Stipulation and Consent Agreement requires the pipeline defendants to refund Storage in Transit penalties and disgorge profits to the shippers that have been illegally excluded by the scheme which include many of the plaintiffs. Alleging that the defendants' actions resulted in a decline in revenues from their end-use customers, as well as a decline in market share and asset value, plaintiffs sue the pipeline and select shipper defendants in state court in West Virginia for antitrust and breach of contract violations. The defendants successfully removed this action to this court. The defendants dien filed a motion to dismiss on the basis, inter alia, that the filed rate doctrine and federal preemption bars plaintiffs' claims. The motion to dismiss is denied. The filed rate doctrine does not bar plaintiffs' claims. The central core of the filed rate doctrine is that the agency, and not the court, is authorized by Congress to determine the reasonableness of any pipeline rates or services. The doctrine restricts the agency to charging only the approved rates and preserves the agency's authority to determine those rates. To allow a court to award as damages a rate never filed with the agency would undermine the congressional rate regulation. The doctrine also applies to services, classifications, charges and practices included in the rate filing. Plaintiffs in this suit do not directly challenge the agency's rates contained in the defendants' tariffs. Plaintiffs claim is that they suffered diminished revenues from sales to their customers, obstruction to business expansion, loss of market share and asset value due to their exclusion from the market based on the defendants' actions. In effect, plaintiffs merely seek compensatory damages for wrongful injury by the pipeline and select shipper defendants' conduct. Nor do their compensatory damage claims implicate the filed rate doctrine by having the effect of challenging the filed rate. Plaintiffs seek no damages for rates.