(a) Transportation includes storage, exchange, backhaul, displacement, or other methods of transportation.

(b) Appropriate state regulatory agency means a state agency which regulates intrastate pipelines and local distribution companies within such state. When used in reference to rates and charges, the term includes only those agencies which set rates and charges on a cost-of-service basis.

(c) Market center means an area where gas purchases and sales occur at the intersection of different pipelines.

(d) Major non-interstate pipeline means a pipeline that fits the following criteria:

(1) It is not a “natural gas company” under section 1 of the Natural Gas Act, or is a “natural gas company” and has obtained a service area determination under section 7(f) of the Natural Gas Act from the Commission;

(2) It delivers annually more than fifty (50) million MMBtu (million British thermal units) of natural gas measured in average deliveries for the previous three calendar years; or, if the pipeline has been operational for less than three years, its design capacity permits deliveries of more than fifty (50) million MMBtu of natural gas annually.

(a) Refunds. Any rate or charge collected for any sale, transportation, or assignment conducted pursuant to this part which exceeds the rates or charges authorized by this part shall be refunded.

(b) Interest. All refunds made pursuant to this section must include interest at an amount determined in accordance with § 154.501(d) of this chapter.

(a) For purposes of section 1(b) of the Natural Gas Act, the provisions of such Act and the jurisdiction of the Commission under such Act shall not apply to any transportation or sale in interstate commerce of natural gas if such a transaction is authorized pursuant to section 311 or 312 of the NGPA.

(b) For purposes of the Natural Gas Act, the term “natural gas company” (as defined by section 2(6) of such Act) shall not include any person by reason of, or with respect to, any transaction involving natural gas if the provisions of the Natural Gas Act do not apply to such transaction by reason of paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) The Natural Gas Act shall not apply to facilities utilized solely for transportation authorized by section 311(a) of the NGPA.

(a) Reports in MMBtu. All reports filed pursuant to this part must indicate quantities of natural gas in MMBtu's. An MMBtu means a million British thermal units. A British thermal unit or Btu means the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound avoirdupois of pure water from 58.5 degrees to 59.5 degrees Fahrenheit, determined in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

(b) Measurement. The Btu content of one cubic foot of natural gas under the standard conditions specified in paragraph (c) of this section is the number of Btu's produced by the complete combustion of such cubic foot of gas, at constant pressure with air of the same temperature and pressure as the gas, when the products of combustion are cooled to the initial temperature of the gas and air and when the water formed by such combustion is condensed to a liquid state.

(c) Standard conditions. The standard conditions for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section are as follows: The gas is saturated with water vapor at 60 degrees Fahrenheit under a pressure equivalent to that of 30.00 inches of mercury at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, under standard gravitational force (980.665 centimeters per second squared).

The Commission may prospectively, by rule or order, impose such further terms and conditions as it deems appropriate on transactions authorized by this part.

(a) Procedure. A pipeline may obtain an interpretation pursuant to subpart L of part 385 of this chapter concerning whether particular rates and charges comply with the requirements of this part.

(b) Address. Requests for interpretations should be addressed to: FERC Part 284 Interpretations, Office of General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20426.

(a) Firm transportation availability. (1) An interstate pipeline that provides transportation service under subpart B or G or this part must offer such transportation service on a firm basis and separately from any sales service.

(2) An intrastate pipeline that provides transportation service under Subpart C may offer such transportation service on a firm basis.

(3) Service on a firm basis means that the service is not subject to a prior claim by another customer or another class of service and receives the same priority as any other class of firm service.

(4) An interstate pipeline that provided a firm sales service on May 18, 1992, and that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B or G of this part, must offer a firm transportation service under which firm shippers may receive delivery up to their firm entitlements on a daily basis without penalty.

(b) Non-discriminatory access. (1) An interstate pipeline or intrastate pipeline that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B, C or G must provide such service without undue discrimination, or preference, including undue discrimination or preference in the quality of service provided, the duration of service, the categories, prices, or volumes of natural gas to be transported, customer classification, or undue discrimination or preference of any kind.

(2) An interstate pipeline that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B or G of this part must provide each service on a basis that is equal in quality for all gas supplies transported under that service, whether purchased from the pipeline or another seller.

(3) An interstate pipeline that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B or G of this part may not include in its tariff any provision that inhibits the development of market centers.

(c) Reasonable operational conditions. Consistent with paragraph (b) of this section, a pipeline may impose reasonable operational conditions on any service provided under this part. Such conditions must be filed by the pipeline as part of its transportation tariff.

(d) Segmentation. An interstate pipeline that offers transportation service under subpart B or G of this part must permit a shipper to make use of the firm capacity for which it has contracted by segmenting that capacity into separate parts for its own use or for the purpose of releasing that capacity to replacement shippers to the extent such segmentation is operationally feasible.

(e) Reservation fee. Where the customer purchases firm service, a pipeline may impose a reservation fee or charge on a shipper as a condition for providing such service. Except for pipelines subject to subpart C of this part, if a reservation fee is charged, it must recover all fixed costs attributable to the firm transportation service, unless the Commission permits the pipeline to recover some of the fixed costs in the volumetric portion of a two-part rate. A reservation fee may not recover any variable costs or fixed costs not attributable to the firm transportation service. Except as provided in this paragraph, the pipeline may not include in a rate for any transportation provided under subpart B, C or G of this part any minimum bill or minimum take provision, or any other provision that has the effect of guaranteeing revenue.

(f) Limitation. A person providing service under Subpart B, C or G of this part is not required to provide any requested transportation service for which capacity is not available or that would require the construction or acquisition of any new facilities.

(a) An interstate pipeline that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B or G of this part must include in its tariff a mechanism for firm shippers to release firm capacity to the pipeline for resale by the pipeline on a firm basis under this section.

(b)(1) Firm shippers must be permitted to release their capacity, in whole or in part, on a permanent or short-term basis, without restriction on the terms or conditions of the release. A firm shipper may arrange for a replacement shipper to obtain its released capacity from the pipeline. A replacement shipper is any shipper that obtains released capacity.

(2) The rate charged the replacement shipper for a release of capacity may not exceed the applicable maximum rate, except that no rate limitation applies to the release of capacity for a period of one year or less if the release is to take effect on or before one year from the date on which the pipeline is notified of the release. Payments or other consideration exchanged between the releasing and replacement shippers in a release to an asset manager as defined in paragraph (h)(3) of this section are not subject to the maximum rate.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, a firm shipper that wants to release any or all of its firm capacity must notify the pipeline of the terms and conditions under which the shipper will release its capacity. The firm shipper must also notify the pipeline of any replacement shipper designated to obtain the released capacity under the terms and conditions specified by the firm shipper.

(d) The pipeline must provide notice of offers to release or to purchase capacity, the terms and conditions of such offers, and the name of any replacement shipper designated in paragraph (b) of this section, on an Internet web site, for a reasonable period.

(e) The pipeline must allocate released capacity to the person offering the highest rate and offering to meet any other terms and conditions of the release. If more than one person offers the highest rate and meets the terms and conditions of the release, the released capacity may be allocated on a basis provided in the pipeline's tariff, provided however, if the replacement shipper designated in paragraph (b) of this section offers the highest rate, the capacity must be allocated to the designated replacement shipper.

(f) Unless otherwise agreed by the pipeline, the contract of the shipper releasing capacity will remain in full force and effect, with the net proceeds from any resale to a replacement shipper credited to the releasing shipper's reservation charge.

(g) To the extent necessary, a firm shipper on an interstate pipeline that offers transportation service on a firm basis under subpart B or G of this part is granted a limited-jurisdiction blanket certificate of public convenience and necessity pursuant to section 7 of the Natural Gas Act solely for the purpose of releasing firm capacity pursuant to this section.

(h)(1) The following releases need not comply with the bidding requirements of paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section:

(i) A release of capacity to an asset manager as defined in paragraph (h)(3) of this section;

(ii) A release of capacity to a marketer participating in a state-regulated retail access program as defined in paragraph (h)(4) of this section;

(iii) A release for more than one year at the maximum tariff rate; and

(iv) A release for any period of 31 days or less.

(v) If a release is exempt from bidding under paragraph (h)(1) of this section, notice of the release must be provided on the pipeline's Internet Web site as soon as possible, but not later than the first nomination, after the release transaction commences.

(2) When a release of capacity is exempt from bidding under paragraph (h)(1)(iv) of this section, a firm shipper may not roll over, extend or in any way continue the release to the same replacement shipper using the 31 days or less bidding exemption until 28 days after the first release period has ended. The 28-day hiatus does not apply to any re-release to the same replacement shipper that is posted for bidding or that qualifies for any of the other exemptions from bidding in paragraph (h)(1) of this section.

(3) A release to an asset manager exempt from bidding requirements under paragraph (h)(1)(i) of this section is any pre-arranged release that contains a condition that the releasing shipper may call upon the replacement shipper to deliver to, or purchase from, the releasing shipper a volume of gas up to 100 percent of the daily contract demand of the released transportation or storage capacity, as provided in paragraphs (h)(3)(i) through (h)(3)(iii) of this paragraph.

(i) If the capacity release is for a period of one year or less, the asset manager's delivery or purchase obligation must apply on any day during a minimum period of the lesser of five months (or 155 days) or the term of the release.

(ii) If the capacity release is for a period of more than one year, the asset manager's delivery or purchase obligation must apply on any day during a minimum period of five months (or 155 days) of each twelve-month period of the release, and on five-twelfths of the days of any additional period of the release not equal to twelve months.

(iii) If the capacity release is a release of storage capacity, the asset manager's delivery or purchase obligation need only be up to 100 percent of the daily contract demand under the release for storage withdrawals or injections, as applicable.

(4) A release to a marketer participating in a state-regulated retail access program exempt from bidding requirements under paragraph (h)(1)(ii) of this section is any prearranged capacity release that will be utilized by the replacement shipper to provide the gas supply requirement of retail consumers pursuant to a retail access program approved by the state agency with jurisdiction over the local distribution company that provides delivery service to such retail consumers.

(a) Interruptible transportation availability. (1) An interstate pipeline that provides firm transportation service under subpart B or G of this part must also offer transportation service on an interruptible basis under that subpart or subparts and separately from any sales service.

(2) An intrastate pipeline that provides transportation service under Subpart C may offer such transportation service on an interruptible basis.

(3) Service on an interruptible basis means that the capacity used to provide the service is subject to a prior claim by another customer or another class of service and receives a lower priority than such other classes of service.

(b) The provisions regarding non-discriminatory access, reasonable operational conditions, and limitations contained in § 284.7 (b), (c), and (f) apply to pipelines providing interruptible service under this section.

(c) Reservation fee. No reservation fee may be imposed for interruptible service. A pipeline's rate for any transportation service provided under this section may not include any minimum bill provision, minimum take provision, or any other provision that has the effect of guaranteeing revenue.

(a) Applicability. Any rate charged for transportation service under subparts B and G of this part must be established under a rate schedule that is filed with the Commission prior to commencement of such service and that conforms to the requirements of this section.

(b) Rate objectives. Maximum rates for both peak and offpeak periods must be designed to achieve the following three objectives:

(1) Rates for service during peak periods should ration capacity;

(2) Rates for firm service during off-peak periods and for interruptible service during all periods should maximize throughput; and

(3) The pipeline's revenue requirement allocated to firm and interruptible services should be attained by providing the projected units of service in peak and off-peak periods at the maximum rate for each service.

(c) Rate design—(1) Volumetric rates. Except as provided in § 284.7(e), any rate filed for service subject to this section must be a one-part rate that recovers the costs allocated to the service to the extent that the projected units of that service are actually purchased and may not include a demand charge, a minimum bill or minimum take provision or any other provision that has the effect of guaranteeing revenue. Such rate must separately identify cost components attributable to transportation, storage, and gathering costs.

(2) Based on projected units of service. Any rate filed for service subject to this section must be designed to recover costs on the basis of projected units of service. The fixed costs allocated to capacity reservations, as determined in accordance with § 284.7(e), should be used along with the projected nominations accepted by the pipeline to compute the unit reservation fee. The remaining fixed costs and all variable costs should be used to determine the volumetric rate computed on the basis of projected volumes to be transported. The units projected for the service in rates filed under this section may be changed only in a subsequent rate filing under section 4 of the Natural Gas Act.

(3) Differentiation due to time and distance. Any rate filed for service subject to this section must reasonably reflect any material variation in the cost of providing the service due to:

(i) Whether the service is provided during a peak or an off-peak period; and

(ii) The distance over which the transportation is provided.

(4) Cost basis for rates. (i) Any maximum rate filed under this section must be designed to recover on a unit basis, solely those costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate applies.

(ii) Any minimum rate filed under this section must be based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate applies.

(5) Rate flexibility. (i) Any rate schedule filed under this section must state a maximum rate and a minimum rate.

(ii)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(5)(ii)(B) of this section the pipeline may charge an individual customer any rate that is neither greater than the maximum rate nor less than the minimum rate on file for that service.

(B) If a pipeline does not hold a blanket certificate under Subpart G of this part, it may not charge, in a transaction involving its marketing affiliate, a rate that is lower than the highest rate it charges in any transaction not involving its marketing affiliate.

(iii) The pipeline may not file a revised or new rate designed to recover costs not recovered under rates previously in effect.

(a) Any activity involving the construction of, or the abandonment with removal of, facilities that is authorized pursuant to § 284.3(c) and subpart B or C of this part is subject to the terms and conditions of § 157.206(b) of this chapter.

(b) Advance notification—(1) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, at least 30 days prior to commencing construction a company must file notification with the Commission of any activity described in paragraph (a) of this section.

(2) Exception. The advance notification described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section is not required if the cost of the project does not exceed the cost limit specified in Column 1 of Table I of § 157.208(d) of this chapter.

(c) Contents of advance notification. The advance notification described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section must include the following information:

(1) A brief description of the facilities to be constructed or abandoned with removal of facilities (including pipeline size and length, compression horsepower, design capacity, and cost of construction);

(2) Evidence of having complied with each provision of § 157.206(b) of this chapter;

(3) Current U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute series topographical maps showing the location of the facilities; and

(4) A description of the procedures to be used for erosion control, revegetation and maintenance, and stream and wetland crossings.

(d) Reporting requirements. On or before May 1 of each year, a company must file (on electronic media pursuant to § 385.2011 of this chapter, accompanied by 7 paper copies) an annual report that lists for the previous calendar year each activity that is described in paragraph (a) of this section, and which was completed during the previous calendar year and exempt from the advance notification requirement pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this section. For each such activity, the company must include all of the information described in paragraph (c) of this section.

(a) Incorporation by reference of NAESB standards. (1) An interstate pipeline that transports gas under subparts B or G of this part must comply with the business practices and electronic communications standards as promulgated by the North American Energy Standards Board, as incorporated herein by reference in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (vii) of this section.

(i) Additional Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);

(ii) Nominations Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);

(iii) Flowing Gas Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);

(iv) Invoicing Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);

(v) Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020);

(vi) Capacity Release Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020); and

(vii) internet Electronic Transport Related Standards (Version 3.2, August 15, 2020).

(2) The material listed in this paragraph (a)(2) is incorporated by reference into this section with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. All approved material is available for inspection at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) and at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Contact the Commission at: https://www.ferc.gov, email [email protected], or via phone call at 202-502-8371. For information on the availability of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations or email [email protected]. The material may be obtained from the North American Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX 77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060; https://www.naesb.org/.

(b) Business practices and electronic communication requirements. An interstate pipeline that transports gas under subparts B or G of this part must comply with the following requirements. The regulations in this paragraph adopt the abbreviations and definitions contained in the North American Energy Standards Board Wholesale Gas Quadrant standards incorporated by reference in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(1) Nominations.

(i) Intra-day nominations.

(A) A pipeline must give scheduling priority to an intra-day nomination submitted by a firm shipper over nominated and scheduled volumes for interruptible shippers. When an interruptible shipper's scheduled volumes are to be reduced as a result of an intra-day nomination by a firm shipper, the interruptible shipper must be provided with advance notice of such reduction and must be notified whether penalties will apply on the day its volumes are reduced.

(B) An intra-day nomination submitted on the day prior to gas flow will take effect at the start of the gas day at 9 a.m. CCT.

(ii) Capacity release scheduling. (A) Pipelines must permit shippers acquiring released capacity to submit a nomination at the earliest available nomination opportunity after the acquisition of capacity. If the pipeline requires the replacement shipper to enter into a contract, the contract must be issued within one hour after the pipeline has been notified of the release, but the requirement for contracting must not inhibit the ability of the replacement shipper to submit a nomination at the earliest available nomination opportunity.

(B) A pipeline must permit releasing shippers, as a condition of a capacity release, to recall released capacity and renominate such recalled capacity at each nomination opportunity. Each replacement shipper must be provided with advance notice of such recall and must be notified whether penalties will apply on the day its volumes are reduced.

(iii) Within 60 days after a shipper request, a pipeline must file to make appropriate tariff changes at the Commission to allow multiple shippers associated with a designated agent or asset manager to be jointly and severally liable under a single firm transportation service agreement, subject to reasonable terms and conditions.

(2) Flowing gas. (i) Operational balancing agreements. A pipeline must enter into Operational Balancing Agreements at all points of interconnection between its system and the system of another interstate or intrastate pipeline.

(ii) Netting and trading of imbalances. A pipeline must establish provisions permitting shippers and their agents to offset imbalances accruing on different contracts held by the shipper with the pipeline and to trade imbalances with other shippers where such imbalances have similar operational impact on the pipeline's system.

(iii) Imbalance management. A pipeline with imbalance penalty provisions in its tariff must provide, to the extent operationally practicable, parking and lending or other services that facilitate the ability of its shippers to manage transportation imbalances. A pipeline also must provide its shippers the opportunity to obtain similar imbalance management services from other providers and shall provide those shippers using other providers access to transportation and other pipeline services without undue discrimination or preference.

(iv) Operational flow orders. A pipeline must take all reasonable actions to minimize the issuance and adverse impacts of operational flow orders (OFOs) or other measures taken to respond to adverse operational events on its system. A pipeline must set forth in its tariff clear standards for when such measures will begin and end and must provide timely information that will enable shippers to minimize the adverse impacts of these measures.

(v) Penalties. A pipeline may include in its tariff transportation penalties only to the extent necessary to prevent the impairment of reliable service. Pipelines may not retain net penalty revenues, but must credit them to shippers in a manner to be prescribed in the pipeline's tariff. A pipeline with penalty provisions in its tariff must provide to shippers, on a timely basis, as much information as possible about the imbalance and overrun status of each shipper and the imbalance of the pipeline's system.

(3) Communication protocols. (i)(A) All electronic information provided and electronic transactions conducted by a pipeline must be provided on the public Internet. A pipeline must provide, upon request, private network connections using internet tools, internet directory services, and internet communication protocols and must provide these networks with non-discriminatory access to all electronic information. A pipeline may charge a reasonable fee to recover the costs of providing such an interconnection.

(B) A pipeline must implement this requirement no later than June 1, 2000.

(ii) A pipeline must comply with the following requirements for documents constituting public information posted on the pipeline web site:

(A) The documents must be accessible to the public over the public Internet using commercially available web browsers, without imposition of a password or other access requirement;

(B) Users must be able to search an entire document online for selected words, and must be able to copy selected portions of the documents; and

(C) Documents on the web site should be directly downloadable without the need for users to first view the documents on the web site.

(iii) If a pipeline uses a numeric or other designation to represent information, an electronic cross-reference table between the numeric or other designation and the information represented must be available to users, at a cost not to exceed reasonable shipping and handling.

(iv) A pipeline must provide the same content for all information regardless of the electronic format in which it is provided.

(v) A pipeline must maintain, for a period of three years, all information displayed and transactions conducted electronically under this section and be able to recover and regenerate all such electronic information and documents. The pipeline must make this archived information available in electronic form for a reasonable fee.

(vi) A pipeline must post notices of operational flow orders, critical periods, and other critical notices on its Internet web site and must notify affected parties of such notices in either of the following ways to be chosen by the affected party: Internet E-Mail or direct notification to the party's Internet URL address.

(4) Communication and information sharing among pipelines and public utilities. (i) A pipeline is authorized to share non-public, operational information with a public utility, as defined in § 38.2(a) of this chapter or another pipeline covered by this section, for the purpose of promoting reliable service or operational planning.

(ii) Except as permitted in paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this section, a pipeline and its employees, contractors, consultants, and agents are prohibited from disclosing, or using anyone as a conduit for the disclosure of, non-public, operational information received from a public utility pursuant to § 38.2 of this chapter to a third party or to its marketing function employees as that term is defined in § 358.3(d) of this chapter.

An interstate pipeline that provides transportation service under subparts B or G of this part must comply with the following reporting requirements.

(a) Cross references. The pipeline must comply with the requirements in Part 358, Part 250, and Part 260 of this chapter, where applicable.

(b) Reports on firm and interruptible services. An interstate pipeline must post the following information on its Internet web site, and provide the information in downloadable file formats, in conformity with § 284.12 of this part, and must maintain access to that information for a period not less than 90 days from the date of posting.

(1) For pipeline firm service and for release transactions under § 284.8, the pipeline must post with respect to each contract, or revision of a contract for service, the following information no later than the first nomination under a transaction:

(i) The full legal name of the shipper, and identification number, of the shipper receiving service under the contract, and the full legal name, and identification number, of the releasing shipper if a capacity release is involved or an indication that the pipeline is the seller of transportation capacity;

(ii) The contract number for the shipper receiving service under the contract, and, in addition, for released transactions, the contract number of the releasing shipper's contract;

(iii) The rate charged under each contract;

(iv) The maximum rate, and for capacity release transactions not subject to a maximum rate, the maximum rate that would be applicable to a comparable sale of pipeline services;

(v) The duration of the contract;

(vi) The receipt and delivery points and the zones or segments covered by the contract, including the location name and code adopted by the pipeline in conformance with paragraph (f) of this section for each point, zone or segment;

(vii) The contract quantity or the volumetric quantity under a volumetric release;

(viii) Special terms and conditions applicable to a capacity release transaction, including all aspects in which the contract deviates from the pipeline's tariff, and special details pertaining to a pipeline transportation contract, including whether the contract is a negotiated rate contract, conditions applicable to a discounted transportation contract, and all aspects in which the contract deviates from the pipeline's tariff.

(ix) Whether there is an affiliate relationship between the pipeline and the shipper or between the releasing and replacement shipper.

(x) Whether a capacity release is a release to an asset manager as defined in § 284.8(h)(3) and the asset manager's obligation to deliver gas to, or purchase gas from, the releasing shipper.

(xi) Whether a capacity release is a release to a marketer participating in a state-regulated retail access program as defined in § 284.8(h)(4).

(2) For pipeline interruptible service, the pipeline must post on a daily basis no later than the first nomination for service under an interruptible agreement, the following information:

(i) The full legal name, and identification number, of the shipper receiving service;

(ii) The rate charged;

(iii) The maximum rate;

(iv) The receipt and delivery points between which the shipper is entitled to transport gas at the rate charged, including the location name and code adopted by the pipeline in conformance with paragraph (f) of this section for each point, zone, or segment;

(v) The quantity of gas the shipper is entitled to transport;

(vi) Special details pertaining to the agreement, including conditions applicable to a discounted transportation contract and all aspects in which the agreement deviates from the pipeline's tariff.

(vii) Whether the shipper is affiliated with the pipeline.

(c) Index of customers. (1) On the first business day of each calendar quarter, an interstate pipeline must file with the Commission an index of all its firm transportation and storage customers under contract as of the first day of the calendar quarter that complies with the requirements set forth by the Commission. The Commission will establish the requirements and format for such filing. The index of customers must also posted on the pipeline's Internet web, in accordance with standards adopted in § 284.12 of this part, and made available from the Internet web site in a downloadable format complying with the specifications established by the Commission. The information posted on the pipeline's Internet web site must be made available until the next quarterly index is posted.

(2) For each shipper receiving firm transportation or storage service, the index must include the following information:

(i) The full legal name, and identification number, of the shipper;

(ii) The applicable rate schedule number under which the service is being provided;

(iii) The contract number;

(iv) The effective and expiration dates of the contract;

(v) For transportation service, the maximum daily contract quantity (specify unit of measurement), and for storage service, the maximum storage quantity (specify unit of measurement);

(vi) The receipt and delivery points and the zones or segments covered by the contract, including the location name and code adopted by the pipeline in conformance with paragraph (f) of this section for each point, zone or segment;

(vii) An indication as to whether the contract includes negotiated rates;

(viii) The name of any agent or asset manager managing a shipper's transportation service; and

(ix) Any affiliate relationship between the pipeline and a shipper or between the pipeline and a shipper's asset manager or agent.

(3) The requirements of this section do not apply to contracts which relate solely to the release of capacity under § 284.8, unless the release is permanent.

(4) Pipelines that are not required to comply with the index of customers posting and filing requirements of this section must comply with the index of customer requirements applicable to transportation and sales under Part 157 as set forth under § 154.111(b) and (c) of this chapter.

(5) The requirements for the electronic index are available through the Commission's website, https://www.ferc.gov.

(d) Capacity and flow information. (1) An interstate pipeline must provide on its Internet web site and in downloadable file formats, in conformity with § 284.12 of this part, equal and timely access to information relevant to the availability of all transportation services whenever capacity is scheduled, including, but not limited to, the availability of capacity at receipt points, on the mainline, at delivery points, and in storage fields, whether the capacity is available directly from the pipeline or through capacity release, the total design capacity of each point or segment on the system, the amount scheduled at each point or segment whenever capacity is scheduled, and all planned and actual service outages or reductions in service capacity. An interstate pipeline must also provide information about the volumes of no-notice transportation provided pursuant to § 284.7(a)(4). This information must be posted at each receipt and delivery point before 11:30 a.m. central clock time three days after the day of gas flow and must reflect the pipeline's best estimate. Updated information must be posted at each receipt and delivery point as necessary within ten business days after the month of gas flow.

(2) An interstate pipeline must make an annual filing by March 1 of each year showing the estimated peak day capacity of the pipeline's system, and the estimated storage capacity and maximum daily delivery capability of storage facilities under reasonably representative operating assumptions and the respective assignments of that capacity to the various firm services provided by the pipeline.

(e) Notice of bypass. An interstate pipeline that provides transportation (except storage) to a customer that is located in the service area of a local distribution company and will not be delivering the customer's gas to that local distribution company, must file with the Commission, within thirty days after commencing such transportation, a statement that the interstate pipeline has notified the local distribution company and the local distribution company's appropriate regulatory agency in writing of the proposed transportation prior to commencement.

(f) Location codes. An interstate pipeline must maintain a posting on its publicly available Internet Web site of the pipeline's location names and codes for all current and inactive receipt and delivery points on its system, including, for each point: Direction of flow, the location of the point, the location zone if such exists, the Commission company identification code (CID), if any, of the upstream and/or downstream entity, the location type, the current status as active and inactive, and the date(s) the point becomes active or inactive. The pipeline must provide the information in downloadable file formats, in conformity with the requirements of 18 CFR 284.12 of this chapter.

(a) Daily posting requirement. A major non-interstate pipeline must post on a daily basis on a publicly-accessible Internet Web site and in downloadable file format equal and timely access to information regarding receipt or delivery points, including non-physical scheduling points.

(1) A major non-interstate pipeline must post data for each receipt or delivery point, or for any point that operates as both a delivery and receipt point for the major non-interstate pipeline, to which natural gas transportation is scheduled:

(i) With a physically metered design capacity equal to or greater than 15,000 MMBtu (million British thermal units)/day; or

(ii) If a physically metered design capacity is not known or does not exist for such a point, with a maximum volume scheduled to such a point equal to or greater than 15,000 MMBtu on any day within the prior three calendar years.

(2) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection 284.14(a)(1), a receipt point is not subject to the posting requirements of this section if the maximum scheduled volume at the receipt point was less than 5,000 MMBtu on every day within the prior three calendar years. If a point has operated as both a receipt and delivery point any time within the prior three calendar years, subsection 284.14(a)(2) shall not apply to that point.

(3) A major non-interstate pipeline that must post data for a receipt or delivery point shall do so within 45 days of the date that the point becomes eligible for posting.

(4) For each delivery or receipt point that must be posted, a major non-interstate pipeline must provide the following information by 10:00 p.m. central clock time the day prior to scheduled natural gas flow: Transportation Service Provider Name, Posting Date, Posting Time, Nomination Cycle, Location Name, Additional Location Information if Needed to Distinguish Between Points, Location Purpose Description (Receipt, Delivery, Bilateral, or Non-physical Scheduling Point), Posted Capacity (physically metered design capacity or maximum flow within the last three years), Method of Determining Posted Capacity (Capacity or Maximum Volume), Scheduled Volume, Available Capacity (Calculated as Posted Capacity minus Scheduled Capacity), and Measurement Unit (Dth, MMBtu, or MCf). For receipt or delivery points with bi-directional scheduled flows, the Scheduled Volume for scheduled flow in each direction must be posted. The information in this subsection must remain posted for at least a period of one year.

(5) Newly constructed major non-interstate pipelines, which commence service after the effective date of this section, must comply with the requirements of this section upon their in-service date. Except for newly constructed major non-interstate pipelines, a major non-interstate pipeline that becomes subject to the requirements of this section in any year after the effective date of this section has until June 1 of that year to comply with the requirements of this section.

(b) Exemptions to daily posting requirement. The following categories of major non-interstate pipelines are exempt from the posting requirement of § 284.14(a):

(1) Those that are located upstream of a processing, treatment or dehydration plant;

(2) Those that deliver more than ninety-five percent (95%) of the natural gas volumes they flow directly to end-users or on-system storage as measured in average deliveries for the previous three calendar years;

(3) Storage providers;

(4) Those that deliver the entirety of their transported natural gas directly to an end-user that owns or operates the major non-interstate pipeline.

(a) Multiple affiliates of the same entity may not participate in an open season for pipeline capacity conducted by any interstate pipeline providing service under subparts B and G of this part, in which the pipeline may allocate capacity on a pro rata basis, unless each affiliate has an independent business reason for submitting a bid.

(b) For purposes of this section, an affiliate is any person that satisfies the definition of affiliate in § 358.3(a)(1) and (3) of this chapter with respect to another entity participating in an open season subject to paragraph (a) of this section.