[Federal Register: April 22, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 77)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 20909-20913]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22ap10-3]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 358
[Docket No. RM07-1-002; Order No. 717-C]
Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers
Issued April 16, 2010.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Order on Rehearing and Clarification.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) issued
Order No. 717-A to address requests for rehearing and make clearer the
Standards of Conduct as implemented by Order No. 717. The Commission
issued Order No. 717-B to address expedited requests for rehearing and
clarification concerning paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A and whether an
employee who is not making business decisions about contract non-price
terms and conditions is considered a ``marketing function employee.''
This order addresses additional requests for rehearing and
clarification concerning Order No. 717-A.
DATES: Effective Date: This rule will become effective July 21, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leonard Tao, Office of the General
Counsel--Energy Markets, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8214.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; Marc Spitzer,
Philip D. Moeller, and John R. Norris.
Order on Rehearing and Clarification
I. Introduction
1. On October 16, 2008, the Commission issued Order No. 717
amending the Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers (the
Standards of Conduct or the Standards) to make them clearer and to
refocus the rules on the areas where there is the greatest potential
for abuse.\1\ On October 15, 2009, the Commission issued Order No. 717-
A to address requests for rehearing and clarification of Order No. 717,
largely affirming the reforms adopted in Order No. 717.\2\ On November
16, 2009, the Commission issued Order No. 717-B to address expedited
requests for rehearing and clarification concerning paragraph 80 of
Order No. 717-A and whether an employee who is not making business
decisions about contract non-price terms and conditions is considered a
``marketing function employee.'' \3\ In this order, the Commission
grants additional clarification concerning matters petitioners raised
regarding the Commission's determinations in Order No. 717-A.
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\1\ Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers, Order No.
717, 73 FR 63796 (Oct. 27, 2008), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,280
(2008) (Order No. 717).
\2\ Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers, Order No.
717-A, 74 FR 54463 (Oct. 22, 2009), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,297
(2009) (Order No. 717-A).
\3\ Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers, Order No.
717-B, 74 FR 60153 (Nov. 20, 2009), 129 FERC ] 61,123 (Nov. 16,
2009) (Order No. 717-B). On October 30, 2009, EEI filed a request
for expedited clarification of a single issue addressed in Order No.
717-A. The Commission determined that it should address this issue
expeditiously even though the time allowed under the regulations for
filing rehearing requests had not yet expired. For this reason, the
Commission issued Order No. 717-B on November 16, 2009, in which it
addressed a single clarification request of EEI, Western Utilities,
Otter Tail and Central Vermont. All other timely requests for
rehearing, i.e. those filed by November 16, 2009, are addressed in
this order.
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II. Requests for Clarification and/or Rehearing
2. Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Transmission Dependent Utility
Systems (TDUS), Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS), National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Associated Electric
Cooperative (AEC), Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric),
Xcel Energy Services (Xcel), E.ON U.S., Avista Corporation (Avista),
the American Public Gas Association (APGA) and Western Utilities \4\
filed requests for clarification, or in the alternative, requests for
rehearing. The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-
State) filed in support of the NRECA's request. The Electric Power
Supply Association (EPSA) filed a motion for leave to answer and an
answer to Western Utilities' request for clarification and
rehearing.\5\
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\4\ Western Utilities is comprised of Arizona Public Service
Company, Avista Corporation, El Paso Electric Company, Idaho Power
Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PacifiCorp, Portland
General Electric Company, Puget Sound Energy, Southern California
Edison Company, and Tucson Electric Power Company.
\5\ EPSA objects to Western Utilities' characterization of its
filing as a request for clarification.
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[[Page 20910]]
III. Discussion
A. Procedural Matters
3. Rule 213(a)(2) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedure \6\ prohibits an answer to a request for rehearing unless
otherwise ordered by the decisional authority. We will accept the
EPSA's answer to Western Utilities' motion for clarification and/or
request for rehearing because it provided information that assisted us
in our decision-making process.
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\6\ 18 CFR 385.213(a)(2) (2009).
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B. Independent Functioning Rule
i. Transmission Function Employees
4. In paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A, the Commission clarified
that personnel engaged in granting or denying transmission service
requests are transmission function employees because the act of
granting or denying transmission service requests is an integral part
of ``planning, directing, organizing or carrying out of day-to-day
transmission operations.'' \7\ The Commission then elaborated in this
paragraph that the term ``transmission function employee'' includes
``an employee responsible for performing system impact studies or
determining whether the transmission system can support the requested
services as this type of employee is planning, directing, organizing or
carrying out the day-to-day transmission operations.'' \8\
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\7\ Order No. 717-A at P 27.
\8\ Id.
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Requests for Rehearing and Clarification:
5. EEI, Western Utilities, Xcel, Avista and Basin Electric argue
that paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A overruled paragraph 147 of Order
No. 717 in which the Commission stated that so long as the preparation
of system impact studies ``do[es] not implicate the day-to-day
operation of the transmission system, they are not transmission
functions.'' \9\ The parties request that the Commission reconsider its
statement in Order No. 717-A.
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\9\ Order No. 717 at P 147.
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6. Western Utilities argues that in many instances, system impact
studies have nothing to do with day-to-day operations of the
transmission system. Western Utilities states that some studies are
used to assess whether any additional costs may be incurred in order to
provide the requested transmission service. Western Utilities further
states that where such studies are required, they trigger the process
for determining the modifications needed to provide the service at some
future date and, thus, are not day-to-day transmission operations.
Western Utilities requests that the Commission clarify that studies
related to determining the upgrades necessary to the transmission
system to provide service, including system impact studies, do not
qualify as Transmission Function activities, because they fall under
the category of ``long-range planning.''
7. EPSA responds to Western Utilities' argument by stating that
transmission system impact studies do have an impact on day-to-day
transmission operations as these studies provide significant insight
into non-public development plans of market participants and
opportunities for additional investments and that these studies are a
core function of transmission providers.
8. Avista states that studies related to interconnection requests,
which identify interconnection facilities needed to interconnect a new
generator as an energy resource or network resource, do not convey any
rights to deliver electricity to any specific customer or point of
delivery and do not implicate the day-to-day operation of the
transmission system.
9. In the event that the Commission does not grant the requested
clarification, Basin Electric asks the Commission to extend the date
for compliance with paragraph 27 to 90 days after the date of this
order.
Commission Determination:
10. We deny the requests to reconsider paragraph 27 in Order No.
717-A. The Commission finds that paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A is not
inconsistent with the Commission's findings in paragraph 147 of Order
No. 717. In essence, certain protestors argue that the Commission's
finding in Order No. 717-A that a ``transmission function employee''
includes an employee responsible for performing system impact studies
is inconsistent with the Commission's finding in Order No. 717 that so
long as the preparation of system impact studies ``do[es[ not implicate
the day-to-day operation of the transmission system, they are not
transmission functions.'' \10\ In order to reconcile these seemingly
inconsistent statements, these Commission findings must be viewed in
the context of the protestors' requests for clarification.
Specifically, in Order No. 717 and Order No. 717-A, the Commission
determined whether system impact studies performed pursuant to narrowly
described fact scenarios would lead to a grant or denial of
transmission service.
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\10\ Id. See also Order No. 717-A at P 27.
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11. In paragraph 147 of Order No. 717, we granted a request for
clarification from Idaho Power Company that asked whether long-range
planning functions such as integrated resource planning and preparation
of system impact studies are transmission functions. The Commission
stated that ``so long as these activities do not implicate the day-to-
day operation of the transmission system, they are not transmission
functions.'' \11\ Thus, Order No. 717 responded to a narrow request for
clarification concerning integrated resource planning and the conduct
of system impact studies for long-range planning.\12\ The Commission
did not state in Order No. 717 that the conduct of system impact
studies is at all times a long-range planning function, but only
recognized that, in some cases, the preparation of system impact
studies might not implicate the day-to-day operation of the
transmission system. The protestors are simply incorrect in their
assertion that the Commission found in Order No. 717 that preparation
of a system impact study can never be considered a transmission
function.
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\11\ Order No. 717 at P 147.
\12\ Id.
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12. Similarly, in paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A, the Commission
granted another narrow request for clarification, which asked whether
transmission function employees include just the employees who post on
the OASIS that a particular request has been granted or denied or also
those employees who are responsible for performing the underlying
system impact studies or otherwise determining whether the transmission
system can support the requested services.\13\ In response, the
Commission first clarified that personnel engaged in granting or
denying transmission service requests are transmission function
employees because the act of granting or denying transmission service
requests is an integral part of ``planning, directing, organizing or
carrying out of day-to-day transmission operations'' \14\ and then
elaborated, in response to the second part of the clarification request
that the term ``transmission function employee'' includes an employee
responsible for performing system impact studies or determining whether
the transmission system can support the requested services because the
act of granting or denying transmission service requests is an integral
part of ``carrying out of day-to-day transmission operations.'' \15\
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\13\ Order No. 717-A at P 26.
\14\ Id. P 27.
\15\ Id.
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[[Page 20911]]
13. While the language in paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A could
have been more artfully worded, the Commission in this paragraph
intended to clarify that, in the context of an employee conducting a
system impact study to determine whether a transmission system can
support a transmission service request, such an employee's act of
performing a system impact study would necessarily classify that
employee as a ``transmission function employee.'' The Commission
intended the clarification in this paragraph to apply only to the
situation in which an employee conducts a system impact study to
determine whether a transmission system can support a transmission
service request, and not to every situation in which an employee
conducts a system impact study.
14. In making the clarification in paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A,
the Commission focused on the Sec. 358.3(h) definition of
``transmission function'' as the ``* * * carrying out of day-to-day
transmission operations, including the granting and denying of
transmission service requests.'' \16\
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\16\ 18 CFR 358.3(h).
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15. EEI argues that ``it is the tests that determine whether
transmission is available, not the testers.'' \17\ As such, EEI
contends that performing a system impact study is not day-to-day
control over the operation of the transmission system.\18\ While a
``tester'' may not make the determination to grant or deny transmission
service, EEI's argument ignores the fact that it is the knowledge that
an employee obtains while conducting a system impact study in response
to a transmission service request that could be used to favor an
affiliate over its competition. For this reason, we find that a
``tester'' who grants and denies transmission service requests by
disclosing the results of a test is engaging in ``transmission
functions'' as defined in Sec. 358.3(h).\19\
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\17\ EEI Nov. 16, 2009 Request for Clarification at 4.
\18\ Id.
\19\ 18 CFR 358.3(h).
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16. However, we clarify that a system impact study performed
pursuant to a request for energy resource interconnection service or
network resource interconnection service is similar to long-range
planning and therefore not a transmission function, because the focus
of such a study is to determine the impact of the proposed
interconnection on the safety and reliability of the transmission
provider's transmission system, but without conveying a right to
transmission service.\20\ Accordingly, we find that the performance of
a system impact study in the context of evaluating an energy resource
interconnection service and network resource interconnection service is
not a transmission function.
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\20\ See Standardization of Small Generator Interconnection
Agreements and Procedures, Order No. 2003, FERC Stats. & Regs. ]
31,146 (2003) (Order No. 2003), order on reh'g, Order No. 2003-A,
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,160, order on reh'g, Order No. 2003-B, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,171 (2004), order on reh'g, Order No. 2003-C,
FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,190 (2005), aff'd sub nom. Nat'l Ass'n of
Regulatory Util. Comm'rs v. FERC, 475 F.3d 1277 (D.C. Cir. 2007);
see also Notice Clarifying Compliance Procedures, 106 FERC ] 61,009
(2004). In Order No. 2003 at P 767, the Commission stated the
following: ``Both Energy Resource Interconnection Service and
Network Resource Interconnection Service provide for the
construction of Network Upgrades that would allow the
Interconnection Customer to flow the output of its Generating
Facility onto the Transmission Provider's Transmission System in a
safe and reliable manner. However, * * * neither Energy Resource
Interconnection Service nor Network Resource Interconnection Service
in and of itself conveys the right to do so. Moreover, neither type
of Interconnection Service constitutes a reservation of transmission
capacity. The Interconnection Customer, load or other market
participant would have to request either point-to-point or Network
Integration Transmission Service under the Transmission Provider's
OATT in order to receive the delivery service that is a prerequisite
to flowing power onto the system.''
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17. Similarly, we find that the performance of a system impact
study that is not a part of day-to-day transmission operations and
performed solely to determine the transmission system upgrades
necessary to provide service is a part of long-range planning.
Accordingly, we clarify that a system impact study performed solely to
assess what, if any, additional costs may be incurred in order to
provide transmission service is not a transmission function so long as
the performance of this system impact study is not carried out as part
of day-to-day transmission operations, including the granting or
denying of transmission service.
18. In light of the Commission's denial of the requests to
reconsider paragraph 27 of Order No. 717-A, the Commission grants Basin
Electric's request to extend the date of compliance with paragraph 27
of Order No. 717-A to ninety (90) days after the date of this order.
ii. Marketing Functions
19. In Order No. 717-A, we clarified in paragraph 40 that ``if an
employee of a generation and transmission cooperative simply serves
retail load and does not engage in activities included in the
`marketing functions' definition in Sec. 358.3, then this employee is
not a `marketing function employee'.''
Requests for Rehearing and Clarification:
20. TAPS requests clarification that a generation and transmission
cooperative's sales to its distribution cooperative members and a
municipal joint action agency's sales to its municipal distribution
utility members are analogous to a vertically integrated utility's
retail sales function and, therefore, the employees of a generation and
transmission cooperative, as well as the employees of a municipal joint
action agency are not ``marketing function'' employees for the purposes
of the Standards of Conduct. Similarly, TDUS, NRECA, Tri-State, AEC and
Basin Electric request clarification that wholesale sales of electric
energy and capacity by generation and transmission electric
cooperatives to their distribution cooperative members do not fall
within the scope of marketing functions. TAPS argues that paragraph 40
of Order No. 717-A creates ambiguity. TAPS states that generation and
transmission cooperatives are not technically ``serv[ing] retail
load.'' TAPS further argues that because generation and transmission
cooperatives are engaged in functions almost identical to serving
retail load, there is an ambiguity between what it thinks the
Commission intended to state and the language in Order No. 717-A.
Commission Determination:
21. We will grant the requested clarification regarding generation
and transmission cooperatives. In Order No. 888-A, the Commission
clarified that if a distribution cooperative sought open access
transmission service from a Transmission Provider, only that specific
distribution cooperative, not its member distribution cooperatives,
would be required to offer transmission service. The Commission
determined that generation and transmission cooperatives were not
affiliates of their distribution cooperatives for purposes of
application of the ``reciprocal transmission requirement'' of Order No.
888.\21\ Subsequently, in Order No. 2004-A, we stated that generation
and transmission cooperatives are not subject to the Standards of
Conduct consistent with the policies established under Order No.
888.\22\ We find that the adoption of the employee functional approach
in the Standards of Conduct does not warrant a change in our treatment
of G&T cooperatives. Therefore, we clarify that sales of power by
generation and transmission
[[Page 20912]]
cooperatives to their member generation and transmission cooperatives
or to their member distribution cooperatives do not constitute
marketing functions under the Standards of Conduct. Similarly, a
municipal joint action agency, which is a public agency that provides
power to its municipal member-owners, does not perform a marketing
function when selling power to those members.
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\21\ Order No. 888-A, FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations Preambles
July 1996-December 2000 ] 31,048 at 30,366.
\22\ Order No. 2004-A at P 27.
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iii. Marketing Function Employees
22. In paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A, the Commission stated the
following:
The Commission clarifies that an employee in the legal, finance
or regulatory division of a jurisdictional entity, whose
intermittent day-to-day duties include the drafting and redrafting
of non-price terms and conditions of, or exemptions to, umbrella
agreements is a ``marketing function employee.'' ``Marketing
functions'' are not limited to only price terms and conditions of a
contract, because non-price terms and conditions of a contract could
contain information that an affiliate could use to its advantage.
For example, delivery or hub locations in a contract are non-price
terms that could be used to favor an affiliate. In addition,
negotiated terms and conditions could affect the substantive rights
of the parties. For this reason, we decline to make a generic
finding to limit ``marketing functions'' to only price terms and
conditions, but will consider waiver requests concerning an employee
whose intermittent duties involve drafting non-price terms and
conditions.\23\
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\23\ Order No. 717-A at P 80.
23. In Order No. 717-B, the Commission granted limited rehearing
and clarification to address expedited clarification requests regarding
paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A. Specifically, the Commission stated
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the following:
The Commission clarifies that the language in paragraph 80 of
Order No. 717-A was overly broad. The Commission further clarifies
that we intended to state in paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A that an
employee making business decisions about non-price terms and
conditions can be considered a ``marketing function employee''
because that employee is actively and personally engaged in
marketing functions. However, an employee who simply drafts or
redrafts a contract, including non-price terms and conditions,
without making business decisions is not a ``marketing function
employee.'' \24\
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\24\ Order No. 717-B at P 6.
Requests for Rehearing and Clarification:
24. Several additional parties have requested clarification
regarding paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A since the issuance of Order
No. 717-B, but have raised the same issues as those addressed in Order
No. 717-B. Xcel also requests clarification that enterprise risk
management employees may provide risk management services to both the
wholesale sales function and the transmission function of a vertically
integrated and/or combination utility, subject to the No Conduit Rule,
and consistent with Order No. 717.
Commission Determination:
25. Since the Commission has already addressed the arguments
concerning paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A in Order No. 717-B, we find
that the requests for clarification regarding paragraph 80 of Order No.
717-A have been rendered moot. Similarly, we also find that the
Commission's determinations in Order No. 717-B render Xcel's request
for clarification moot. Xcel's concern regarding the application of the
Standards of Conduct to its risk management employees stems from its
interpretation of paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A. However, in Order
No. 717-B, the Commission clarified that it did not intend to depart
from the conclusions in paragraph 131 of Order No. 717. In paragraph
131, which the Commission reiterated in Order No. 717-B, we expressly
stated that ``a risk management employee may develop risk guidelines
for both transmission function employees and marketing function
employees.'' \25\ Accordingly, the Commission finds that these requests
for rehearing concerning paragraph 80 of Order No. 717-A have been
rendered moot.\26\
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\25\ Order No. 717 at P 131.
\26\ We note that risk management employees remain subject to
the No Conduit Rule, and are prohibited from providing transmission
function information to marketing function employees.
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iv. Long-Range Planning, Procurement and Other Interactions
26. In Order No. 717-A, the Commission stated that ``meetings
including both transmission function and marketing function employees
are not barred under the Standards of Conduct as long as the meetings
do not relate to transmission or marketing functions.'' \27\ The
Commission also noted that the No Conduit Rule \28\ still applies to
these meetings.
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\27\ Order No. 717-A at P 89.
\28\ 18 CFR 358.6.
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Requests for Rehearing and Clarification:
27. E.ON U.S. is concerned that paragraph 89 and paragraph 90 of
Order No. 717-A could act as a blanket prohibition on any meeting or
communication between marketing and transmission function employees in
which non-public transmission function information is discussed. E.ON
U.S. requests clarification that the Commission did not eliminate
certain exemptions in Sec. 358.7 or the meetings in which information
shared under these exemptions occurs. Specifically, E.ON U.S. notes the
``specific transaction information'' exemption in Sec. 358.7(b); \29\
the exemption allowing discussion of compliance information relating to
Reliability Standards approved by the Commission in Sec.
358.7(h)(2)(i); \30\ and the exemption allowing discussion of
information necessary to restore operation of the transmission system
or that may affect dispatch of generating units in Sec.
358.7(h)(2)(ii).\31\
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\29\ 18 CFR 358.7(b).
\30\ 18 CFR 358.7(h)(2)(i).
\31\ 18 CFR 358.7(h)(2)(ii).
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Commission Determination:
28. We grant E.ON U.S.'s request for clarification and confirm that
the Commission did not intend to limit or eliminate the exemptions in
Sec. 358.7. We note that employees remain subject to the No Conduit
Rule, and are prohibited from providing transmission function
information to marketing function employees.
v. Seller's Own Production or Gathering or Processing Facilities
29. In Order No. 717-A, the Commission denied the request of APGA
to eliminate the exclusion for sales of natural gas solely from a
seller's own production and from a seller's own gathering or processing
facilities from the definition of ``marketing function.'' \32\ The
Commission also noted that section 4 of the Natural Gas Act prohibits a
pipeline from granting any undue preference or advantage to any person
or subjecting any person to any undue prejudice or disadvantage.\33\
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\32\ Order No. 717-A at PP 55-58.
\33\ Id. P 58.
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Request for Clarification or Rehearing:
30. APGA requests that the Commission clarify that, notwithstanding
any exemption from the Standards of Conduct, a natural gas transmission
provider's disclosure of non-public transmission function information
to its gas sales employees or those affiliated producers, gatherers and
processors constitutes the granting of an ``undue preference or
advantage'' under section 4 of the Natural Gas Act. APGA argues that
``the Commission is obligated under the Act `to prevent discrimination
against shippers who must depend on monopolistic pipelines for
transportation,' and the disclosure of non-public transmission function
information by pipelines to their sales employees and those of its
affiliates clearly constitutes improper favoritism.'' Accordingly, APGA
asks that if the
[[Page 20913]]
Commission declines to grant the requested clarification, then it
should grant rehearing on this issue and on rehearing amend Order No.
717-A to state that such disclosure is unlawful.
Commission Determination:
31. We deny APGA's request for clarification or rehearing of Order
No. 717-A. The Commission previously denied APGA's request for
rehearing in Order No. 717-A and affirmed the adoption of the exclusion
in Order No. 717. Now, for the first time, APGA asks that the
Commission adopt a per se rule that, notwithstanding any exclusion, a
natural gas transmission provider's disclosure of non-public
transmission function information to its gas sales employees or its
affiliated producers, gatherers and processors constitutes the granting
of an ``undue preference or advantage'' under section 4 of the Natural
Gas Act. As an initial matter, we note that APGA raises this request
for rehearing for the first time in this proceeding. We have held
repeatedly that it is inappropriate for a protestor to raise new issues
in a request for rehearing because this practice is disruptive to the
administrative process and denies parties the opportunity to
respond.\34\
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\34\ Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, 91 FERC ] 61,270, at
61,922 (2000); Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, 92 FERC ] 61,043,
at 61,114 (2000); New York Independent System Operator, Inc., 97
FERC ] 61,006, at 61,015 (2001); Carolina Power & Light Company, 106
FERC ] 61,141, at P 15 (2004); CARE v. Calpine Energy Services, LP,
107 FERC ] 61,238, at P 7 (2004); PJM Interconnection, LLC, 126 FERC
] 61,030, at P 15 (2009).
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32. We also find that APGA's request for clarification or rehearing
is beyond the scope of this proceeding. Although APGA describes its
filing as a request for clarification or rehearing of Order No. 717-A,
in fact, APGA requests that the Commission clarify section 4 of the
Natural Gas Act.\35\ The appropriate forum to raise this request for an
interpretation of section 4 of the Natural Gas Act would be in either a
complaint proceeding or a petition for declaratory order. Accordingly,
we deny APGA's request for clarification or rehearing in this
proceeding concerning section 4 of the Natural Gas Act.
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\35\ 15 U.S.C. Sec. 717c (2009).
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33. Although we deny APGA's request for rehearing and
clarification, we note that the exclusion must be read in the context
of the whole of the Standards of Conduct. For example, section 358.2(a)
of the Commission's regulations specifies that ``A transmission
provider must treat all transmission customers, affiliated and non-
affiliated, on a non-discriminatory basis and must not make or grant
any undue preference or advantage to any person or subject any person
to any undue prejudice or disadvantage with respect to any
transportation of natural gas. * * *'', while section 358.2(d) further
provides that ``A transmission provider must provide equal access to
non-public transmission function information to all its transmission
customers, affiliated and non-affiliated, except in the case of
confidential customer information or Critical Energy Infrastructure
Information.''
IV. Document Availability
34. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the
Internet through FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's
Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
35. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is
available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on
eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or
downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket
number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket
number field.
36. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC's Web
site during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at 202-502-
6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or e-mail at
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
V. Effective Date
37. Changes to Order No. 717-A adopted in this order on rehearing
and clarification are effective July 21, 2010.
By the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-9264 Filed 4-21-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P