Each day, gas shippers have the right to make two intra-day nomination change requests and one evening nomination change request. The intra-day and evening nominations are good for only one day. The nomination reverts back to the original amount for the next gas day, unless it is changed by the shipper.
The interstate pipeline needs intra-day nomination change requests for Gas Day 1 by:
- 10 a.m. to take effect at 5 p.m. that same day
- 5 p.m. to take effect at 9 p.m. that same day
The interstate pipeline needs evening nomination change requests for Gas Day 2 by:
- 6 p.m. to take effect at 9 a.m. the next gas day
Intra-day nominations for the next gas day can be submitted 24 hours a day.
At the utility, we need advance notice in order to change our nomination, balance the system and avoid penalty charges from the interstate pipeline. For that reason, it is important to submit intra-day nomination change requests to WPS one hour before the interstate pipeline's deadline.
Our Natural Gas Nomination Timeline summarizes the schedule of options customers have to request changes in gas nominations.
Intra-day nomination change requests should be faxed to the WPS Gas Supply Group at 920-430-6806.
After you or your marketer make an intra-day nomination
WPS must confirm all gas transportation nominations for customers and marketers.
- We automatically confirm all start-of-day nominations.
- We individually review intra-day nomination change requests individually and approve or deny them.
When the interstate pipeline receives an intra-day nomination change request, it completes a validation process to determine if the request can be met. The interstate pipeline checks three points on the system:
- Gas supply
- Pipeline capacity
- The end-user's ability to accept the gas
If any one of these cannot meet the full amount requested, the interstate pipeline approves the lesser amount that all points can meet (this is referred to as the "lesser of" procedure).
Example:
A customer's intra-day nomination change request is for an additional 1,000 dekatherms (DTH) of gas. During the validation process, the interstate pipeline learns that the gas supplier can provide 1,000 DTH of gas, and the end-user can accept it. But the pipeline can handle only 900 DTH of gas. The interstate pipeline will approve the lesser amount (900 DTH) that it has verified the system can handle.
Intra-day nomination impacts
In 1998, The Gas Industry Standards Board (or GISB, now known as the North American Energy Standards Board), increased the number of intra-day nomination changes that may be requested by gas transportation customers. This gives utilities, customers and marketers more opportunity to save money on daily balancing costs.
While this ability benefits many customers, WPS has to be sure it doesn't inadvertently, and unfairly, increase costs for other gas customers. Specifically, we needed to protect gas customers from penalties that may occur if a transportation customer removes expected gas deliveries from the utility's system through an intra-day nomination change.
A provision in the WPS tariff helps protect all gas customers from potential abuses of the intra-day nomination process. Under this provision, if a transportation customer delivers less gas to the WPS system than its scheduled, confirmed start-of-day nomination and the utility is penalized by the interstate pipeline(s), that specific customer will be charged a penalty.
The penalty charged to the specific transportation customer will be equal to the highest pipeline penalty rate actually charged to WPS for that day, times the difference between the customer's scheduled, confirmed start-of-day nomination and the amount of gas actually delivered. Any penalties incurred under this provision will be in addition to other charges that would normally apply to the situation, such as daily balancing and monthly cashout charges.
The following three conditions need to apply before a customer will be subject to any penalty charges under this provision:
- It isn't a High-Flow Constraint Day. (High-Flow Constraint Days can be called by WPS when there are problems with daily gas supply, daily pipeline supply or annual gas supply.)
- The customer delivered less gas to the WPS system than its scheduled, confirmed start-of-day nomination. This may have happened because of an intra-day nomination decrease or because a transporter's gas supplies were "cut" prior to being delivered to the utility's system.
- WPS was charged a penalty by the interstate pipeline supplier(s) serving its system.
Contact us if you have any questions about intra-day nomination change requests.
