FERC-537, Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, Acquisition and Abandonment

Under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) a natural gas company must obtain FERC authorization to engage in the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce, to undertake the construction or extension of any facilities, or to acquire or operate any such facilities or extensions in accordance with Section 7(c) of the NGA. A natural gas company must also obtain FERC approval under Section 7(b) of the NGA prior to abandoning any jurisdictional facility or service. Under the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA) (Public Law 96-621) interstate pipelines must also obtain FERC authorization for certain transportation arrangements. If a certificate is granted, the natural gas company can engage in the interstate transportation of natural gas and construct, acquire, or operate facilities. Conversely, approval of an abandonment application permits the pipeline to cease service and discontinue the operation of such facilities. Authorization under NGPA Section 311(a) allows the interstate or intrastate pipeline applicants to render certain transportation services. The natural gas companies file the necessary information with FERC so that the Commission can determine from the data if the requested certificate should be authorized. The data required to be submitted in a normal certificate filing may include (depending on the circumstances and application): • identification of the company and responsible officials • factors considered in the location of the facilities and the impact on the area for environmental considerations • Flow diagrams showing the design capacity for engineering design verification and safety determination; • Cost of proposed facilities, plans for financing, and estimated revenues and expenses related to the proposed facility for accounting and financial evaluation. • Existing and proposed storage capacity and pressures and reservoir engineering studies for requests to increase storage capacity; • Engineering drawings; • An affidavit showing the consent of existing customers for abandonment of service requests. In addition, requests for an increase of pipeline capacity must include a statement that demonstrates compliance with the Commission’s Certificate Policy Statement by making a showing that the cost of the expansion will not be subsidized by existing customers and that there will not be adverse economic impacts to existing customers, competing pipelines or their customers, or to landowners and surrounding communities.

The latest form for FERC-537, Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, Acquisition and Abandonment expires 2021-10-31 and can be found here.