MPACT Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2771 To amend the Natural Gas Act to protect consumers from excessive rates, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. BURR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To amend the Natural Gas Act to protect consumers from excessive rates, 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 ‘‘Making Pipelines Ac- 4 countable to Consumers and Taxpayers Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘MPACT Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. HEARING ON CHANGED RATES OR CHARGES. 7 Section 4(e) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 8 717c(e)) is amended by striking the third and fourth sen- 9 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘Where changes in 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2771 IS rates or charges are thus made effective, the Commission 1 may, by order, require the natural-gas company to furnish 2 a bond, to be approved by the Commission, to refund any 3 amounts ordered by the Commission, to keep accurate ac- 4 counts in detail of all amounts received by reason of those 5 changes, specifying by whom and in whose behalf those 6 amounts were paid, and, on completion of the hearing and 7 decision, to order the natural-gas company to refund, with 8 interest, the portion of those rates or charges by its deci- 9 sion found not justified. At any hearing involving a rate 10 or charge sought to be changed, the burden of proof to 11 show that the changed rate or charge is just and reason- 12 able shall be on the natural-gas company, and the Com- 13 mission shall give to the hearing and decision of such ques- 14 tions preference over other questions pending before the 15 Commission and decide the same as speedily as possible.’’. 16 SEC. 3. REFUNDS. 17 Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717d) 18 is amended— 19 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 20 section (d); and 21 (2) inserting after subsection (a) the following: 22 ‘‘(b) REFUNDS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the conclusion of any 24 hearing under this section in which refunds of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2771 IS amounts that have been paid are required, the Com- 1 mission shall order the natural-gas company to make 2 those refunds for the period beginning on the refund 3 effective date established under paragraph (3) and 4 ending on the date on which the new rate estab- 5 lished by the Commission under subsection (a) takes 6 effect in amounts in excess of those amounts that 7 would have been paid under the just and reasonable 8 rate, charge, classification, rule, regulation, practice, 9 or contract that the Commission orders to be ob- 10 served and in force. 11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The refunds required 12 under paragraph (1) shall be made, with interest, to 13 the persons who have paid the rates or charges that 14 are the subject of the hearing. 15 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 17 establish the refund effective date in accordance 18 with this paragraph. 19 ‘‘(B) HEARINGS INITIATED ON COM- 20 PLAINT.—In the case of a hearing initiated on 21 a complaint, the refund effective date shall be— 22 ‘‘(i) not earlier than the date on which 23 the complaint was filed; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2771 IS ‘‘(ii) not later than 150 days after 1 that date. 2 ‘‘(C) HEARING INITIATED ON MOTION OF 3 COMMISSION.—In the case of a hearing initiated 4 by the Commission on its own motion, the re- 5 fund effective date shall be— 6 ‘‘(i) not earlier than the date on which 7 the Commission publishes notice of the in- 8 tent to initiate the hearing; and 9 ‘‘(ii) not later than 150 days after 10 that date. 11 ‘‘(c) NO FINAL DECISION.—If the Commission has 12 not rendered a final decision for a hearing under this sec- 13 tion by the end of the 180-day period beginning on the 14 date on which the hearing is initiated, the Commission 15 shall state— 16 ‘‘(1) the reasons why the Commission has failed 17 to render a decision; and 18 ‘‘(2) the best estimate of the Commission as to 19 when the Commission reasonably expects to render 20 the decision.’’. 21 SEC. 4. EFFECT. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by sec- 23 tions 2 and 3 shall not apply to any proceeding under the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2771 IS Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.) commenced be- 1 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 2 (b) REFILING WITHOUT PREJUDICE.—A proceeding 3 under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.) com- 4 menced before the date of enactment of this Act may be 5 withdrawn and refiled without prejudice. 6 SEC. 5. STUDY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 3 years and not 8 later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 9 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall conduct 10 a study on the effect of the amendments made by sections 11 2 and 3. 12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The study under subsection 13 (a) shall include an analysis of— 14 (1) the impact, if any, of the amendments made 15 by sections 2 and 3 on the cost of capital paid by 16 natural-gas companies (as defined in section 2 of the 17 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717a)); 18 (2) any change in the average time taken to re- 19 solve proceedings under sections 4 and 5 of the Nat- 20 ural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717c, 717d); and 21 (3) such other matters as the Federal Energy 22 Regulatory Commission may determine to be appro- 23 priate and in the public interest. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2771 IS (c) REPORT.—On completion of the study under sub- 1 section (a), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 2 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 3 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 4 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report de- 5 scribing the results of the study. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2771.IS S2771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS