History of natural gas

The move towards deregulation

The Natural Gas Policy Act took the first steps towards deregulating the natural gas market, by instituting a scheme for the gradual removal of price ceilings at the wellhead. However, there still existed significant regulations regarding the sale of gas from an interstate pipeline to local utilities and local distribution companies (LDCs). Under the NGA and the NGPA, pipelines purchased natural gas from producers, transported it to its customers (mostly LDCs), and sold the bundled product for a regulated price. Instead of being able to purchase the natural gas as one product, and the transportation as a separate service, pipeline customers were offered no option to purchase the natural gas and arrange for its transportation separately.

Several events led up to the 'unbundling' of the pipelines' product. In the early 1980s, noticing that a significant number of industrial customers were switching from using natural gas to other forms of energy (for example, electric generators switching from natural gas to coal), several pipelines instituted what they called Special Marketing Programs (SMPs). Essentially, these programs, which were approved by FERC, allowed industrial customers with the capability to switch fuels the right to purchase gas directly from producers, and transport this gas via the pipelines. However, SMPs were found discriminatory by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in several 1985 cases. The court ruled that SMPs were discriminatory in that no other customer of the pipelines had the ability to purchase their own natural gas and transport it via pipeline. As a result of this, SMPs were eliminated on October 31, 1985.

However, the practice of allowing customers to purchase their own gas, and use pipelines only as transporters rather than merchants, was not abandoned. In fact, it became part of FERC policy to encourage this separation by way of Order No. 436.

FERC Order No. 436

In 1985, FERC issued Order No. 436, which changed how interstate pipelines were regulated. This order established a voluntary framework under which interstate pipelines could act solely as transporters of natural gas, rather than filling the role of a natural gas merchant. This order provided for all customers the same possibilities that the SMPs of the early 1980s had afforded industrial fuel-switching customers, thus avoiding the discrimination problems of the earlier SMPs. Essentially, FERC allowed pipelines, on a voluntary basis, to offer transportation services to customers who requested them on a first come, first served basis. The interstate pipelines were barred from discriminating against transportation requests based on protecting their own merchant services. Transportation rate minimums and maximums were set, but within those boundaries the pipelines were free to offer competitive rates to their customers. Although the framework established by Order 436 was voluntary, all of the major pipeline systems eventually took part.

FERC Order No. 436 had a number of immediate effects, including:

• Pipelines began offering transportation service to all customers
• Pipeline customers realized cost savings, in that the spot market prices of natural gas were much lower than the prices offered for natural gas by the pipelines (due to the long term 'take-or-pay' contracts that the pipelines were bound under)
• The payments necessary under these 'take-or-pay' contracts increased for pipelines, as few customers were willing to purchase higher priced gas from the pipelines
• Pipelines and producers were often forced into litigation to resolve issues surrounding 'take-or-pay' contracts

FERC Order No. 436 also had a number of longer-term effects, including:

• The transportation function became the primary function of pipelines, as opposed to offering the bundled merchant service
• A wide variety of natural gas purchasing and transportation patterns and practices emerged due to the availability of choices to the end user
• New pricing patterns emerged, known as 'netback' pricing, in which a reasonable price was set at the point of consumption, and that minus the cost of distribution, minus the cost of transportation, gave the 'netback' price to the producer at the wellhead

The movement towards allowing pipeline customers the choice in the purchase of their natural gas and their transportation arrangements became known 'open access'. Order No. 436 thus became generally known as the Open Access Order.

While the general thrust of Order 436 was upheld in Court, several problems arose regarding the 'take-or-pay' contracts under which the pipelines were still obliged. Given these problems, and under remand from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, FERC issued Order No. 500 in 1987. This order essentially encouraged interstate pipelines to buy out the costly take-or-pay contracts, and allowed them to pass a portion of the cost of doing so through to their sales customers. The LDCs to which these costs were passed through were allowed by state regulatory bodies to further pass them on to retail customers. However, the open access provisions of Order No. 436 remained intact.

Open access to pipelines also spurred the first appearances of natural gas marketers. To learn more about natural gas marketing, click here.

The Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989

As mentioned, under the NGPA, the deregulation of natural gas producers sale prices at the wellhead had begun. However, it wasn't until Congress passed the Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act (NGWDA) in 1989 that complete deregulation of wellhead prices was carried forth. Under the NGWDA, the NGPA was amended and all remaining regulated prices on wellhead sales were repealed. As of January 1, 1993, all remaining NGPA price regulations were to be eliminated, allowing the market to completely determine the price of natural gas at the wellhead.

The NGWDA stated that 'first sales' of natural gas were to be free of any federal price regulations. The Act defined 'first sales' as the sale of gas:

• To a pipeline
• To a local distribution company
• To an end user
• Preceding the sale to any of the above
• Determined by FERC to be a first sale

Excluded from falling under the definition of a first sale were any sales of gas by pipelines and local distribution companies, including interstate pipelines.

FERC Order No. 636

While FERC Order No. 436 made the unbundling of pipeline services possible, the establishment of transportation only services by a pipeline continued to be only voluntary. FERC Order No. 636 completed the final steps towards unbundling by making pipeline unbundling a requirement. Issued in 1992, the Order states that pipelines must separate their transportation and sales services, so that all pipeline customers have a choice in selecting their gas sales, transportation, and storage services from any provider, in any quantity. Order 636 is often referred to as the Final Restructuring Rule, as it was seen as the culmination of all of the unbundling and deregulation that had taken place in the past 20 years. Essentially, this Order meant that pipelines could no longer engage in merchant gas sales, or sell any product as a bundled service. This Order required the restructuring of the interstate pipeline industry; the production and marketing arms of interstate pipeline companies were required to be restructured as arms-length affiliates. These affiliates, under Order 636, could in no way have an advantage (in terms of price, volume, or timing of gas transportation) over any other potential user of the pipeline.

FERC Order No. 636 is the culmination of deregulating the interstate natural gas industry. Distilled to its main purpose, the Order gives all natural gas sellers equal footing in moving natural gas from the wellhead to the end-user or LDC. It allows the complete unbundling of transportation, storage, and marketing; the customer now chooses the most efficient method of obtaining its gas.

Order 636 also requires that interstate pipelines offer services that allow for the efficient and reliable delivery of natural gas to end users. These services include the institution of 'no-notice' transportation service, access to storage facilities, increased flexibility in receipt and delivery points, and 'capacity release' programs. No-notice transportation services allow LDCs and utilities to receive natural gas from pipelines on demand to meet peak service needs for its customers, without incurring any penalties. These services were provided based on LDC and utility concerns that the restructuring of the industry may decrease the reliability needed to meet their own customers' needs. The capacity release programs allow the resale of unwanted pipeline capacity between pipeline customers. Order 636 requires interstate pipelines to set up electronic bulletin boards, accessible by all customers on an equal basis, which show the available and released capacity on any particular pipeline. A customer requiring pipeline transportation can refer to these bulletin boards, and find out if there is any available capacity on the pipeline, or if there is any released capacity available for purchase or lease from one who has already purchased capacity but does not need it.

Click here to learn more about FERC Order No. 636.

To learn more about the structure of regulation as it exists today, and the effect that this regulation has on industry, click here.

Source: NaturalGas.org www.naturalgas.org | Natural Gas Supply Association www.ngsa.org