The Nickel Report

On January 17, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) held its monthly open meeting. The first half of the meeting was dedicated to remembrances of Commissioner McIntyre, who passed away earlier this month. The Commission elected to name the Commission meeting room in his honor.

Highlights of the second half of the meeting included:

• Investigation on Rates Charged by Three Interstate Pipeline Companies: Chairman Chatterjee highlighted the Commission’s initiation on January 16 of investigations pursuant to Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act of three interstate natural gas companies to determine if they are substantially over-recovering their costs of service, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates. The investigations result from the Commission’s review of information submitted by these companies via FERC Form 501-G in response to the Commission’s Order No. 849 concerning the companies’ return on equity before and after the passage of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 and changes to the Commission’s tax allowance policies in response to the DC Circuit’s United Airlines decision. The Commission simultaneously terminated nine natural gas rate proceedings finding that the pipelines complied with the Commission’s filing requirements. Chairman Chatterjee emphasized his commitment to ensure that the benefits of reduced taxes flow to consumers and to resolve the matters as soon as possible.