FERC-592, Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers and Marketing Affiliates of Interstate Pipelines

The Commission has the regulatory responsibility under Section 4 of the Natural Gas Act to ensure that pipeline rates and terms and conditions of service are just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory. Just and reasonable rates and services are needed to achieve two principal objectives. They should promote competitive and efficient markets, while mitigating market power and preventing undue discrimination, especially for the Commission's "prime constituency, captive customers vulnerable to pipelines' market power." In short, the Commission's regulatory policy must seek to reconcile the objectives of fostering an efficient market that provides good alternatives to as many shippers as possible while at the same time creating a regulatory framework that is fair and protects captive customers without good alternatives. The Standards of Conduct only apply to interstate natural gas pipelines that engage in transportation transactions with their marketing affiliates. The Standards of Conduct and related document retention/posting requirements enable the Commission and the public to monitor, deter and prevent an interstate natural gas pipeline from giving its marketing affiliate an undue preference or engaging in unduly discriminatory behavior in favor of its marketing affiliate.

The latest form for FERC-592, Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers and Marketing Affiliates of Interstate Pipelines expires 2022-09-30 and can be found here.