1-Hour Program

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Overview

Natural gas is frequently in today’s headlines, either as the bane of environmentalists who oppose hydraulic fracturing (fracking) or the savior of environmentalists who see it as a fuel to replace coal for generating electricity.  Less than ten years ago, however, the United States was supposedly running out of natural gas, and the issue of the day was the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities to import supplies from the Middle East and even the Bahamas.  Now, the story is the reverse.  Reportedly, the United States currently produces more natural gas (and oil) than Saudi Arabia and Russia, and applications are pending at the U.S. Department of Energy to use LNG facilities to export natural gas.  The primary source of the additional supplies is shale gas produced by the fracking process.   At the same time, pressure has mounted on electric utilities to cut back on their use of coal and use natural gas to generate electricity.   

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) plays a major role in the story of natural gas, and administers Federal statutes that have implications for both the production of natural gas and the generation of electric energy.  In brief, FERC regulates natural gas companies operating in interstate commerce.   Specifically, FERC oversees the construction and operation of the infrastructure (including the siting of LNG facilities) necessary to bring natural gas out of the producing areas to electric utilities that generate electricity as well as to natural gas distribution companies that serve retail natural gas consumers.  FERC sets the rates and terms and conditions of service for that transportation, and is responsible for keeping the natural gas markets free of manipulation.    

Join Susan J. Court, Principal, SJC Energy Consultants, LLC, for an overview of the natural gas law administered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Ms. Court was a FERC executive for over 25 years, including serving as Associate General Counsel for Gas and Oil and Director of the Office of Enforcement.  Among other things, she will discuss: 

  • The development and status of natural gas law under the Natural Gas Act and the Natural Gas Policy Act, in particular as that law was amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005;
  • The development and status of natural gas rules as promulgated by FERC, in particular the agency’s open access program and the policies related to the nation’s natural gas infrastructure, including the import and export of natural gas through LNG facilities;
  • The relationship between FERC’s interstate commerce oversight and the responsibilities of state utility commissions;
  • The state of FERC’s enforcement of its natural gas rules, in particular the agency’s efforts to enforce the prohibition against the manipulation of natural gas commodity markets; and
  • The implications of FERC policies, rules, and regulations for today’s seemingly opposing issues of producing more natural gas from fracking and generating more electricity with natural gas.

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