FERC Gas Pipeline Expansion Fuel Rate Vacated on Appeal (1)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve fuel rates that increased costs for one natural gas pipeline user in order to protect others from rates they didn’t consent to, the DC Circuit said Tuesday.

Antero Resources Corp. and its subsidiary MU Marketing LLC—which produce, ship, and sell natural gas—claimed the fuel rates FERC approved weren’t just or reasonable, forcing the company to pay more even if its own shipments stay the same or even decline.

“We hold that FERC’s order approving this two-tier fuel rate is arbitrary and capricious,” the US Court of Appeals for the DC ...