ENERGY TRANSFER INTERSTATE
PIPELINES
FERC STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
IMPLEMENTATION
PROCEDURES
REVISED FEBRUARY 1, 2013
I.
APPLICABILITY
AND GENERAL STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE
On
October 16, 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or
"Commission") issued Order No. 717 (“Order 717”), which revised the FERC's
Standards of Conduct regulations contained in Part 358 of the FERC's
regulations (as may be further revised from time to time, the “Standards of
Conduct”). The Standards of Conduct apply
to any interstate natural gas pipeline Transmission Provider that conducts
transmission transactions with an Affiliate that engages in Marketing Functions
(“Marketing Affiliate”). These Standards of Conduct implementation procedures ("Implementation
Procedures") apply to any Energy Transfer Transmission Provider which conducts
transmission transactions with a Marketing Affiliate, effective with the
commencement of any such transmission transactions. The Energy Transfer
Transmission Providers are ETC Tiger Pipeline, LLC (“ETC Tiger”); Fayetteville
Express Pipeline LLC (“FEP”); Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC (“FGT”);
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP (“PEPL”); Sea Robin Pipeline Company,
LLC (“Sea Robin”); Southwest Gas Storage Company (“SWGS”); Transwestern
Pipeline Company, LLC (“Transwestern”); Trunkline Gas Company, LLC (“TGC”); and
Trunkline LNG Company, LLC (“TLNG”).
These
Implementation Procedures, as may be revised from time to time, describe the
procedures that each Energy Transfer Transmission Provider has implemented to
comply with the Standards of Conduct. These Implementation Procedures also reflect
each Transmission Provider's commitment to full compliance with the Standards
of Conduct, including compliance with the general principles concerning
nondiscriminatory and nonpreferential conduct, the independent functioning of
Transmission Function Employees and Marketing Function Employees, the
prohibited use of anyone as a conduit to disclose non-public Transmission
Function Information to Marketing Function Employees, and the transparency
requirements applicable to non-public Transmission Function Information and
Customer Information.
These
Implementation Procedures have been distributed to all Transmission Providers’ Transmission
Function Employees, Marketing Function Employees, officers, directors,
supervisory employees, and any other Employees likely to become privy to
Transmission Function Information. To the extent that any Energy Transfer
Transmission Provider is conducting transmission transactions with a Marketing
Affiliate, and is therefore subject to the Standards of Conduct, the information required by the Standards of
Conduct to be posted on the Transmission Provider’s website, including these
Implementation Procedures, may be accessed by selecting on the Transmission
Provider’s website Informational Postings, then Standards of Conduct, and then
the subheading corresponding to the specific type of information desired. The
website address for each Transmission Provider is included in Appendix A to
these Implementation Procedures. Unless otherwise defined in these
Implementation Procedures, capitalized terms used herein shall be defined as
set forth in the Standards of Conduct.
II.
NON-DISCRIMINATION
REQUIREMENTS
The
Standards of Conduct require a Transmission Provider to treat all of its Transmission
Customers, affiliated and non-affiliated, on a not unduly discriminatory basis,
and will 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 in interstate commerce. In particular, Transmission
Provider:
(a)
will strictly enforce all tariff provisions relating to the sale and
purchase of open-access transmission service, if the tariff provisions do not
permit the use of discretion;
(b)
will apply all tariff provisions relating to the sale or purchase of
open-access transmission service in a fair and impartial manner that treats all
Transmission Customers in a not unduly discriminatory manner, if the tariff
provisions permit the use of discretion;
(c)
will not, through its tariffs or otherwise, give undue preference to any
person in matters relating to the sale or purchase of transmission service
(including, but not limited to, issues of price, curtailments, scheduling,
priority, ancillary services, or balancing); and
(d) will process all similar requests for
transmission service in the same manner and within the same period of time.
III.
INDEPENDENT FUNCTIONING
REQUIREMENTS
The Standards of
Conduct require a Transmission Provider's Transmission
Function Employees to function independently of its Marketing Function
Employees, unless otherwise permitted by the Standards of Conduct or by Commission
order. Transmission Provider has accordingly implemented policies and
procedures to assure the independent functioning of its Transmission Function
Employees and its Marketing Function Employees. In accordance with the
Standards of Conduct, the term “Employee,” when used in these Implementation
Procedures in reference to Transmission Function Employees and Marketing
Function Employees, shall include the respective employees, contractors,
consultants, and agents of Transmission Provider and its Marketing
Affiliates.
Transmission Provider does not employ
any Marketing Function Employees. Therefore, all references in these
Implementation Procedures to Transmission Provider's Marketing Function
Employees refer more specifically to the Marketing Function Employees of its
Marketing Affiliates. Transmission Provider does not permit any Transmission
Function Employees to perform Marketing Functions, or any Marketing Function
Employees to perform Transmission Functions. Transmission Provider has identified
its Transmission Function Employees and posted their job titles and
descriptions on its website under the Job Titles-Descriptions subheading.
Transmission Provider has also posted the names and addresses of its Marketing
Affiliates on its website under the Affiliate Names and Addresses subheading.
Unless otherwise indicated on
Transmission Provider’s website, the respective work areas of Transmission
Provider's Transmission Function Employees and Marketing Function Employees are
not located in the same facility. Transmission Provider will post on its
website, under the Shared Facilities subheading, the type and address of any
facility in which both Transmission Function Employee and Marketing Function
Employee work areas are located. For any such Shared Facility, the Transmission
Function Employee and Marketing Function Employee work areas are located on
separate floors, and Marketing Function Employee access to Transmission
Function Employee work areas is restricted through the use of card keys or
other locking devices. In addition, Transmission Provider has restricted Marketing
Function Employee access to Transmission Provider's Gas Control facilities, and
to all other Transmission Function Employee work areas, through the use of card
keys or other locking devices. Transmission Provider maintains floor plans that
indicate the locations of various employee groups by function, including the respective
locations of Transmission Function Employee and Marketing Function Employee
work areas. If a Transmission Function
Employee or a Marketing Function Employee transfers to a different work area
location, such transferring Employee's new work area location will be
consistent with Transmission Provider's physical separation of Transmission
Function Employee and Marketing Function Employee work areas.
Transmission Provider has implemented logical
separation protocols that restrict Marketing Function Employee access to
computer files, applications, and databases that contain non-public
Transmission Function Information. Access to such files, applications, and
databases is controlled through the use of logon IDs and password verification,
and is limited to personnel who are not Marketing Function Employees. Appropriate
management and system owner approvals must be obtained before access to any such
files, applications, or databases is granted, and such access may not be granted
to any Marketing Function Employee. Prior to any transfer of a Transmission
Function Employee to a position as a Marketing Function Employee, such
Transmission Function Employee's access to electronic data containing
non-public Transmission Function Information will be terminated. Physical data
and records maintained by Transmission Function Employees which contain
Transmission Function Information are maintained and stored within the
Transmission Function Employee locations, and is therefore not shared with or
accessible to Marketing Function Employees, who are restricted from accessing
these locations. As required by the
Standards of Conduct, Transmission Provider maintains its books of account and
records separately from those of its Marketing Affiliates.
IV.
NO
- CONDUIT REQUIREMENTS
The Standards of Conduct prohibit a
Transmission Provider and its employees, contractors, consultants and agents
from disclosing, or using any person as a conduit to disclose, non-public Transmission
Function Information to the Transmission Provider's Marketing Function Employees.
Transmission Provider has accordingly implemented policies and procedures to
assure that it will not use anyone as a conduit for the disclosure of
non-public Transmission Function Information to its Marketing Function
Employees. All of Transmission Provider's employees, contractors, consultants
and agents, and all of the employees, contractors, consultants and agents of
its Marketing Affiliates, are prohibited from disclosing non-public Transmission
Function Information to any Marketing Function Employees. Transmission Provider
provides training on this “No-Conduit Rule” to these employees in order to
assure compliance with these requirements. Transmission Provider also requires
each of these persons to certify electronically that they have completed the
required training.
V.
TRANSPARENCY
REQUIREMENTS
The Standards of Conduct require a Transmission
Provider to provide equal access to non-public Transmission Function Information
that is disclosed to any of its Marketing Function Employees to all of its Transmission
Customers, affiliated and non-affiliated, unless otherwise provided in the
Standards of Conduct or permitted by a Commission order. Transmission Provider accordingly
will post on its website all information required to be posted by the Standards
of Conduct. In addition to the types of posted information described in other
parts of these Implementation Procedures, Transmission Provider will also post
on a timely basis the following additional types of information.
If Transmission Provider discloses
non-public Transmission Function Information to a Marketing Function Employee
in a manner contrary to the requirements of the No-Conduit Rule, Transmission
Provider will immediately post such disclosed information on its website under
the Information Disclosure subheading. However, if such disclosed information is
either (i) non-public Transmission Customer information, (ii) critical energy
infrastructure information ("CEII") as defined in Section
388.113(c)(1) of the FERC's regulations or in any successor provision, or (iii)
any other information that the Commission by law has determined to be subject
to limited dissemination, then Transmission Provider will immediately post only
a notice that such information was disclosed, without posting the content of such
disclosed information. In addition,
Transmission Provider is not required to post on its website information that a
Transmission Function Employee discusses with a Marketing Function Employee,
which otherwise must be disclosed under the Standards of Conduct, if the
information relates solely to the Marketing Function Employee’s specific
request for transmission service or to the Marketing Affiliate’s existing
transmission transactions with Transmission Provider.
A Transmission Customer may voluntarily
consent, in writing, to allow Transmission Provider to disclose the Transmission
Customer’s non-public information to Marketing Function Employees. If any such consent is received by
Transmission Provider, then Transmission Provider will post notice of such
consent on its website under the Voluntary Consent subheading, along with a
statement that it did not provide any preferences, either operational or
rate-related, in exchange for such voluntary consent.
If any Transmission Function Employee
transfers to a position as a Marketing Function Employee, or if any Marketing Function
Employee transfers to a position as a Transmission Function Employee,
Transmission Provider will post a notice of such transfer, for a period of 90
days, on its website under the Employee Transfers subheading. Any such posting will
include the name of the transferring Employee, the respective titles held while
performing each function, and the effective date of such transfer. Transmission
Provider will not use any such transfer to circumvent any provision of the
Standards of Conduct.
If a potential merger is publicly
announced by Energy Transfer, and the potential merger partner has an affiliate
that would be a Marketing Affiliate of Transmission Provider upon completion of
the merger, then within seven days after such announcement, Transmission Provider
will post information concerning such potential merger partner on its website under
the Potential Mergers subheading.
If Transmission Provider grants a waiver
of a tariff provision in favor of a Marketing Affiliate, then unless the waiver
was approved by the Commission, within one business day after such waiver was
granted, Transmission Provider will post a notice of such waiver on its website
under the Affiliate Tariff Waivers subheading. Transmission Provider also separately
maintains a log of any such waivers, and will maintain the log record of any
specific waiver for a period of five years from the date on which the waiver
was granted.
In the event an emergency, such as an
earthquake, flood, fire, or hurricane, severely disrupts Transmission Provider’s
normal business operations, the posting requirements in the Standards of
Conduct may be suspended by Transmission Provider. If any such disruption lasts longer than one
month, Transmission Provider will so notify the Commission and may seek a further
exemption from the posting requirements.
Transmission Provider will post any
change in information required to be posted under the Standards of Conduct
within seven business days of such change, along with the date on which the
posted information was updated.
Notwithstanding any otherwise applicable
requirement of the Standards of Conduct, Transmission Function Employees and
Marketing Function Employees may exchange non-public Transmission Function Information,
such as information pertaining to compliance with Reliability Standards
approved by the Commission and information necessary to maintain or restore
operation of the transmission system. Transmission Provider will make and
retain a contemporaneous record of all such exchanges, except that in emergency
circumstances Transmission Provider will make a record of the exchange as soon
as practicable thereafter.
VI.
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Transmission Provider will provide
annual training on the Standards of Conduct to all of its Transmission Function
Employees, Marketing Function Employees, officers, directors, supervisory Employees,
and any other Employees likely to become privy to Transmission Function Information.
Transmission Provider will provide such training to any new Employee within any
of these categories within the first 30 days of employment. Employees will be
notified of the timing for completion of required training, and are each required
to certify electronically or in writing that he or she has completed the
training. Transmission Provider monitors each Employee's completion of training
and related certification, and maintains related records. Employees who are
subject to this training requirement will also be provided with a copy of
and/or electronic access to these Implementation Procedures, as well as any
subsequent revisions to these Implementation Procedures.
VII.
CHIEF COMPLIANCE
OFFICER
Transmission
Provider has designated a Chief Compliance Officer for Standards of Conduct
compliance, and has posted his name and contact information on Transmission
Provider's website under the Chief Compliance Officer subheading. The Chief
Compliance Officer is responsible for, among other things, implementing
Standards of Conduct compliance requirements and monitoring compliance,
responding to questions concerning the Standards of Conduct, administration of
Transmission Provider's training programs, and investigating any potential or
actual violations of the Standards of Conduct. The Chief Compliance Officer may
delegate to others the performance of certain functions regarding the Standards
of Conduct, as appropriate.
VIII.
REPORTING VIOLATIONS
Any
Energy Transfer employee or other person, who is aware of or suspects an
existing or potential violation of these Implementation Procedures or the
Standards of Conduct, should contact the Chief Compliance Officer. The Chief
Compliance Officer may also be contacted regarding any general questions or
concerns involving any aspect of these Implementation Procedures or the
Standards of Conduct.
APPENDIX
A
Energy
Transfer Transmission Provider
Website
Addresses
Transwestern:
https://twtransfer.energytransfer.com/index.jsp
ETC Tiger:
https://tigertransfer.energytransfer.com/index.jsp
FEP:
https://feptransfer.energytransfer.com/index.jsp
FGT, PEPL, TGC, Sea Robin, SWGS and TLNG:
http://www.panhandleenergy.com/info.asp