[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 98 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 32765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10832]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM93-11-000]


Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992; Notice of Annual Change in the Producer Price Index 
for Finished Goods

    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The Commission bases the 
index system, found at 18 CFR 342.3, on the annual change in the 
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG), minus point two one 
percent (PPI-FG--0.21%). The Commission determined in the January 2022 
Order \1\ that PPI-FG--0.21% is the appropriate oil pricing index 
factor for pipelines to use for this period.
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    \1\ Five-Year Rev. of the Oil Pipeline Index, 178 FERC ] 61,023, 
at P 105 (January 2022 Order), reh'g denied, 179 FERC ] 61,100 
(2022).
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    The regulations provide that the Commission will publish annually 
an index figure reflecting the final change in the PPI-FG after the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the final PPI-FG in May of each 
calendar year. The annual average PPI-FG index figures were 221.0 for 
2021 and 250.9 for 2022.\2\ Thus, the percent change (expressed as a 
decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 2021 to 2022, minus 0.21 
percent, is positive 0.133194.\3\ Oil pipelines must multiply their 
July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, index ceiling levels \4\ by 
positive 1.133194 \5\ to compute their index ceiling levels for July 1, 
2023, through June 30, 2024, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For 
guidance in calculating the ceiling levels for each 12-month period 
beginning January 1, 1995,\6\ see Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC ] 
61,416, at n.6 (1995).
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    \2\ Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the final figure 
in mid-May of each year. This figure is publicly available from the 
Division of Industrial Prices and Price Indexes of the BLS, at 202-
691-7705, and in print in August in Table 1 of the annual data 
supplement to the BLS publication Producer Price Indexes via the 
internet at http://www.bls.gov/ppi/home.htm. To obtain the BLS data, 
scroll down to ``PPI Databases'' and click on ``Top Picks'' of the 
Commodity Data including ``headline'' FD-ID indexes (Producer Price 
Index--PPI). At the next screen, under the heading ``PPI Commodity 
Data,'' select the box, ``Finished goods--WPUFD49207,'' then scroll 
to the bottom of this screen and click on Retrieve data.
    \3\ [250.9-221.0]/221.0 = 0.135294-0.0021 = 0.133194.
    \4\ See January 2022 Order, 178 FERC ] 61,023 at P 106 
(directing oil pipelines to recompute their July 1, 2021 through 
June 30, 2022 index ceiling levels to be effective March 1, 2022), 
reh'g denied, 179 FERC ] 61,100 at P 8; see also Revisions to Oil 
Pipeline Reguls. Pursuant to the Energy Pol'y Act of 1992, 178 FERC 
] 61,046 (2022).
    \5\ 1 + 0.133194 = 1.133194.
    \6\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's website, https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/oil/general-information/oil-pipeline-index.
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    In addition to publishing the full text of this Notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print this Notice via the internet through 
FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. To 
access this document in eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the 
last three digits of this document in the docket number field and 
follow other directions on the search page.
    User assistance is available for eLibrary and other aspects of 
FERC's website during normal business hours. For assistance, please 
contact the Commission's Online Support at 1-866-208-3676 (toll free) 
or 202-502-6652 (email at [email protected]), or the Public 
Reference Room at 202-502-8371, TTY 202-502-8659. Email the Public 
Reference Room at [email protected].

    Dated: May 16, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-10832 Filed 5-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


