FERC Filings
Order Proposing Reporting Requirement on Natural Gas Sales to California Market-Docket No. RM01-9-000
I. Reporting Burden
The suggested reporting requirements are too extensive given the current state of the natural gas market in California. Due to the heightened concerns over energy markets in California, market participants are currently cooperating with data requests from several regulatory bodies. Rather than adding yet another layer of information gathering to these numerous requests, the Commission may want to consider using other options it has available to probe for potential abuses in the natural gas markets.
The amount and content of data being proposed is unnecessary for the Commission to assess the California natural gas market. Specifically it is unnecessary to require information on a daily basis, or information at the individual contract/customer level. One alternative would be to require that any reported information be provided on an aggregated/averaged basis over a defined period of time. This aggregated data would still provide the Commission with the necessary means to adequately conduct this investigation.
Natural gas markets since Order No. 636 accurately reflect the supply and demand fundamentals that the Commission intended in that Order and that Congress set out in the Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989. In fact, as hydroelectric and nuclear power has become more available in California in recent days, the demand for natural gas has softened and prices have dropped. These price declines suggest a market that is responding to supply and demand changes rather than manipulation and abuse.