Beginning Nov. 2, 1998, the interstate pipeline companies implemented new
standards that give utilities, customers and marketers more opportunities to
change nominations during the gas day and save money on daily balancing costs.
These new standards were recommended by the Gas Industry Standards Board
(GISB) and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
GISB was created by FERC in 1994 to set industry standards.
This is the second phase of recommendations by GISB to help standardize
practices in the gas industry. The initial GISB standards were implemented
in June 1997 after nearly four years of work.
FERC started this process in 1993 by creating five work groups to develop
standard file formats and protocols for electronic gas transactions. Representatives
from pipelines, producers, local distribution companies, end-users and
marketers participated in this process. They formed GISB in 1994 to standardize
electronic communication.
In the fall of 1995, FERC announced plans to revise pipeline standards
and invited input. GISB filed 140 standard business practices for five
areas. Forty parties filed comments on the standards.
In July 1996, FERC issued Order 587, adopting the GISB standards for
all interstate pipelines. These standards, which all pipelines implemented
between April 1 and June 1, 1997, covered five areas:
- Nominations and confirmations
- Flowing gas
- Invoicing
- Capacity release
- Electronic communications
Customers gain more flexibility
Changes to the standards in 1998 offer customers more flexibility in
nominating their gas supplies each day. Following is a summary of the
most significant changes.
Each day, 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.
Natural gas nomination timeline
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. The Natural Gas Nomination Timeline summarizes the schedule of
options available for customers to request changes in gas nominations.
WPS must confirm all gas transportation nominations
for customers and marketers.
- All start-of-day nominations are confirmed automatically by
WPS.
- Intra-day nomination change requests are reviewed individually and
approved or denied by WPS. The utility needs
advance notice in order to change its nomination, balance the system and avoid
penalty charges from the interstate pipeline.
- Intra-day nomination change requests must be submitted to
WPS one hour before the interstate pipeline's deadline. Intra-day
nomination change requests should be faxed to the WPS
Gas Supply Group at 920-430-6806.
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 n 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 everyone can meet (according to GISB's
"lesser of" procedure).
Example
A customer's intra-day nomination change requests an additional 1,000
dekatherms (DTH) of gas. During the confirmation process, the interstate pipeline
learns that the gas supplier can provide 1,000 DTH of gas and the end-user can
accept 1,000 DTH of gas, but the pipeline can handle only 900 DTH of gas. The interstate pipeline
will approve the lesser of the two amounts (900 DTH of gas) that it has
confirmed the system can handle.
Customers who designate a marketer as the agent to manage their capacity
contracts may need to update agency assignments with the interstate pipeline. Two options
are available.
- Nominating Agents are limited to only making nominations.
- Super Agents can manage all aspects of a customer's contract.
For more information, please contact us.
