Protecting Natural Gas Consumers from Overcharges Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3979 To establish a refund effective date for rates and charges under the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself and Mr. LONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish a refund effective date for rates and charges under the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Natural 4 Gas Consumers from Overcharges Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FIXING RATES AND CHARGES, REFUND EFFECTIVE 6 DATE. 7 Section 5(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 8 717d(a)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3979 IH (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 1 Whenever’’; 2 (2) by striking ‘‘had’’ and inserting ‘‘held’’; and 3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(2) Any complaint or motion of the Commission to 5 initiate a proceeding under this subsection shall state the 6 change or changes to be made to the rate, charge, classi- 7 fication, rule, regulation, practice, or contract then in 8 force, and the reasons for any proposed change or changes 9 therein. 10 ‘‘(3) If, after review of any motion or complaint and 11 answer under this subsection, the Commission shall decide 12 to hold a hearing, it shall— 13 ‘‘(A) fix by order the time and place of such 14 hearing; and 15 ‘‘(B) specify the issues to be adjudicated. 16 ‘‘(4) Whenever the Commission institutes a pro- 17 ceeding under this subsection, the Commission shall estab- 18 lish a refund effective date as follows: 19 ‘‘(A) In the case of a proceeding instituted on 20 complaint, the refund effective date shall not be ear- 21 lier than the date of the filing of such complaint nor 22 later than 5 months after the filing of such com- 23 plaint. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3979 IH ‘‘(B) In the case of a proceeding instituted by 1 the Commission on its own motion, the refund effec- 2 tive date shall not be earlier than the date of the 3 publication by the Commission of notice of its inten- 4 tion to initiate such proceeding nor later than 5 5 months after the publication date. 6 ‘‘(5) Upon institution of a proceeding under this sub- 7 section, the Commission shall give to the decision of such 8 proceeding the same preference as provided under section 9 4 and otherwise act as speedily as possible. 10 ‘‘(6) If no final decision is rendered by the conclusion 11 of the 180-day period commencing upon initiation of a 12 proceeding pursuant to this subsection, the Commission 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(A) state the reasons why it has failed to 15 render such decision; and 16 ‘‘(B) state its best estimate as to when it rea- 17 sonably expects to make such decision. 18 ‘‘(7) In any proceeding under this subsection, the 19 burden of proof to show that any rate, charge, classifica- 20 tion, rule, regulation, practice, or contract is unjust, un- 21 reasonable, unduly discriminatory, or preferential shall be 22 upon the Commission or the complainant. 23 ‘‘(8) At the conclusion of any proceeding under this 24 subsection, the Commission may order refunds— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3979 IH ‘‘(A) of any amounts paid, for the period subse- 1 quent to the refund effective date through a date fif- 2 teen months after such refund effective date, in ex- 3 cess of those which would have been paid under the 4 just and reasonable rate, charge, classification, rule, 5 regulation, practice, or contract which the Commis- 6 sion orders to be thereafter observed and in force: 7 Provided, That if the proceeding is not concluded 8 within fifteen months after the refund effective date 9 and if the Commission determines at the conclusion 10 of the proceeding that the proceeding was not re- 11 solved within the fifteen-month period primarily be- 12 cause of dilatory behavior by the natural gas com- 13 pany, the Commission may order refunds of any or 14 all amounts paid for the period subsequent to the re- 15 fund effective date and prior to the conclusion of the 16 proceeding; and 17 ‘‘(B) shall be made, with interest, to those per- 18 sons who have paid those rates or charges which are 19 the subject of the proceeding.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS