Senate Bill No. 532
(By Senators Helmick, Plymale, Bailey, Edgell, Fanning and Green)
____________
[Introduced February 9, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Energy, Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the requirement to notify
natural gas producers served by intrastate pipeline of the
sale or reclassification of that pipeline; and empowering the
Public Service Commission to require the reservation of
capacity on certain intrastate pipelines for small natural gas
producers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF PUBLIC UTILITIES SUBJECT TO
REGULATIONS OF COMMISSION.
§24-3-3a. Gas utility pipelines declared as common carriers;
notification to producers required for sale of
certain pipelines; commission authority to require reservation of capacity for small producers;
commission approval of certain transportation.
(a) As used in this section or in section eleven, article two
of this chapter:
(1) "Intrastate pipeline" means (i) any utility or (ii) any
other person, firm or corporation engaged in natural gas
transportation in intrastate commerce to or for another person,
firm or corporation for compensation.
(2) "Interstate pipeline" means any person, firm or
corporation engaged in natural gas transportation subject to the
jurisdiction of the FERC under the Natural Gas Act or the Natural
Gas Policy Act of 1978.
(3) "Local distribution company" means any person, other than
any interstate pipeline or any intrastate pipeline, engaged in
transportation or local distribution of natural gas and the sale of
natural gas for ultimate consumption.
(4) "Intrastate commerce" includes the production, gathering,
treatment, processing, transportation and delivery of natural gas
entirely within this state.
(5) "Transportation" includes exchange, backhaul, displacement
or other means of transportation.
(6) "FERC" means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(7) "Small natural gas producer" includes any natural gas
producer with average production of one hundred thousand cubic feet of natural gas per day or less within a pipeline.
(b) The commission may by rule or order, authorize and require
the transportation of natural gas in intrastate commerce by
intrastate pipelines, by interstate pipelines with unused or excess
capacity not needed to meet interstate commerce demands or by local
distribution companies for any person for one or more uses, as
defined, by rule, by the commission in the case of:
(1) Natural gas sold by a producer, pipeline or other seller
to such person; or
(2) Natural gas produced by such person.
(c) For reasons of safety, deliverability or operational
efficiency the commission may, in its discretion, by rule or order,
exclude from the requirements of this section any part of any
pipeline solely dedicated to storage, or gathering, or low pressure
distribution of natural gas.
(d) (1) The rates and charges of any interstate pipeline with
respect to any transportation authorized and required under
subsection (b) of this section shall be just and reasonable and
computed by the public service commission in accordance with the
guidelines set forth by the FERC and in effect upon the date of
application by the commission for the transportation of natural gas
by any interstate pipeline on behalf of any intrastate pipeline or
any local distribution company.
(2) The rates and charges of any intrastate pipeline with respect to any transportation authorized and required under
subsection (b) of this section shall be fair and reasonable and may
not exceed an amount which is reasonably comparable to the rates
and charges which interstate pipelines would be permitted to charge
for providing similar transportation service. The computation of
such rates and charges by the public service commission shall be in
accordance with the guidelines set forth by the FERC and in effect
upon the date of application by the commission for the
transportation of natural gas by any intrastate pipeline in behalf
of any interstate pipeline or any local distribution company served
by any interstate pipeline.
(e) Whenever any intrastate pipeline is offered for sale, or
whenever any intrastate pipeline located in West Virginia is to be
transferred to or reclassified as an intrastate pipeline, the owner
of such pipeline shall, insofar as possible, provide actual notice
to all gas producers served by or connected to the pipeline offered
for sale or proposed to be transferred or reclassified. The
commission shall have authority to prescribe the form and
sufficiency of such notice.
(f) The commission may by rule order authorize and require the
reservation of up to fifty percent of the capacity of any
intrastate pipeline for use by small natural gas producers when
such pipeline capacity is necessary for the transportation of
natural gas produced by small natural gas producers: Provided, That such reservation shall not adversely affect preexisting
contractual rights, or service to existing or future natural gas
utility customers.
(e)(g) The provisions of this article and each section,
subsection, subdivision, paragraph and subparagraph thereof shall
be severable from the provisions of each other subparagraph,
paragraph, subdivision, subsection, section, article or chapter of
this code so that if any provision of this article be held void,
the remaining provisions of this act and this code shall remain
valid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require notification of
natural gas producers if the gathering line serving them is going
to be sold and to empower the Public Service Commission to require
the capacity on intrastate pipelines be reserved for small natural
gas producers in certain circumstances.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
