Motion for Leave to File an Amicus Brief and Amicus Brief of Interstate Natural Gas Association of America on Exceptions to the Initial Decision under CP06-407.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Missouri Interstate Gas, LLC ) Missouri Gas Company, LLC ) Docket No. CP06-407-007 Missouri Pipeline Company, LLC ) MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS BRIEF AND AMICUS BRIEF OF INTERSTATE NATURAL GAS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA ON EXCEPTIONS TO THE INITIAL DECISION Pursuant to Rules of Practice and Procedure 212 and 711 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission), 18 C.F.R. 385.212 & 385.711 (2011), the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) files this motion for leave to file an amicus brief, and the attached amicus brief, to assist the Commission in its consideration of exceptions to the Initial Decision in Missouri Interstate Gas, LLC, 137 FERC 63,014 (2011) (I.D.). I. INTRODUCTION Because the I.D. in this case has the potential to set a troublesome and inefficient precedent for the interstate gas pipeline industry, INGAA respectfully requests leave to file this amicus brief. A. Principles applicable to amicus filings The Commission occasionally treats late motions to intervene as amicus filings. 1 It has also considered the permissibility of such a filing in view of the 1 See, e.g., Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp., 88 FERC 61,155, at p. 61,521 (1999); Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., 88 FERC 61,167, at p. 61,559 (1999). to public serviceeven if the facility is later, through investment, modified and put to use for a completely different public service and a new ratepayer group. Notably, this result is in direct conflict with Commission precedents recognizing that a conversion between pipeline uses may effectively establish a new original cost for purposes of recovering the investment. 9 Even the ALJ acknowledged the problems with his position in this respect, stating: It is arguable that a pipeline like the TMP, which laid idle for over a decade and had probably been fully depreciated even before it was capped, ought to be deemed to have lost its original public service status as an oil pipeline so that, upon its revival as a gas pipeline, it could be entitled to a new original cost. 10 The ALJ nevertheless went on to rule that the original cost traced to 1940, when the oil pipeline was built. 11 With no evidence on the topic of depreciation, the ALJ presumed that the pipeline was fully depreciated. 12 Thus, MoGas was prohibited 9 See Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of Am., 29 FERC 61,073, at p. 61,150 (1984) (allowing recovery of the costs of converting a pipeline, reasoning that because it would be used exclusively for crude-oil and gas-oil transportation, gas ...