Folks not directly involved in the FERC’s rate-setting process for interstate gas pipelines may think it’s a largely mechanical — and painfully boring — activity. But the process is actually often incredibly dynamic, with a lot of give-and-take among pipeline representatives, pipeline customers and FERC staffers, all aimed at reaching an agreement on rates that everyone involved can live with. We recently explained the “formal process” and (informal, confidential) “settlement process” that usually play out along parallel tracks. In today’s RBN blog, we expand on our look at the rate-setting process for gas pipelines with a few more nuances of how negotiated resolution really works.
In Part 1 of this mini-series, we said that the rates regulators set for transporting natural gas on interstate pipelines are all-important. They determine how much it costs to get gas from A to B and whether new capacity can be funded, and serve as the bedrock of regional gas price relationships around the nation’s pipeline grid.
We also described the formal process for rate-setting you see in public and the settlement process that occurs out of sight — not behind closed doors in a smoke-filled room, but under FERC-governed confidential processes. The latter is preferable in that it can enable all parties to achieve a not-so-terrible compromise rather than risk an outcome they’d hate — and it can reach rate certainty much faster than the formal process. (We noted that we know a lot about how this process works from the work we do in FERC rate cases, litigation and settlement negotiation, along with the fundamental market analysis needed to support regulatory pleadings and civil litigation in both federal and state courts. For more on the RBN Advisory Practice, click here.)
Figure 1. Minimum Timeline for FERC’s Formal Rate Process. Source: RBN Advisory Practice
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About the song
“Let’s Make a Deal” was written by Curtis Blandon and appears as the first song on side one of Gloria Gaynor’s third studio album, I’ve Got You. The beat-driven disco song features an electric sitar and glossy production from Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi (Jon Bon Jovi’s second cousin), and Jay Ellis. Released as a single in July 1976, it went to #95 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. Personnel on the record were: Gloria Gaynor (vocals), Lance Quinn, Jerry Freidman, Jeff Mironov (guitar, electric sitar), Bob Babbitt (bass), Pat Rebillot (keyboards), Allan Swartzberg (drums), Carlos Martin (congas), The Tony Posh Strings (strings), Alan Rubin (trumpet), Wayne Andre (trombone), Peter Gordon (French horn), Lou DelGatto, George Taylor, Larry Condas (reeds), and Linda November, Arlene Martell, Vivian Cherry (backing vocals).
I’ve Got You was recorded during the spring and summer of 1976 at Media Sound and Dimensional Sound in New York City and Track Recorder in Silver Spring, MD, with Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, and Jay Ellis producing. Released in July 1976, it went to #40 on the Billboard R&B and #107 on the Billboard 200 Albums charts. One single was released from the LP.
Gloria Gaynor (Gloria Fowles) is an American disco and R&B singer, best known for her #1 disco hit, “I Will Survive.” After singing in clubs along the East Coast for several years, she signed her first record deal with Columbia Records in 1971. She has released 20 studio albums, two live albums, 10 compilation albums, and 59 singles. She has won two Grammy Awards and “I Will Survive” was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2016. At the age of 80, she still records and tours. She was recently featured on the hit television series The Masked Singer.
