FERC rejects proposed change to gas day start time
Washington, 16 April (Argus) — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will preserve the current operating schedule for interstate natural gas pipelines, walking away from its proposal to move the start of the gas day five hours earlier to help avoid electric reliability problems.
FERC in a final rule issued today found there were not sufficient benefits to justify shifting the start of the gas day to 4 am CT, given costs and potential operational and safety issues.
The gas-electric coordination rule will preserve the existing nationwide 9am CT start to the gas day. But the commission adopted other changes to the gas day that could boost flexibility for shippers. US electric grids operate on a 24-hour cycle that starts at midnight in operators’ local time, while the gas day start is uniform across North America.
