Also known as: non-discriminatory access · nondiscriminatory accesses · nondiscrimination · equal access
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A regulatory obligation imposed on pipelines and electric utilities to furnish transportation or transmission services to all shippers and customers on equal terms without preference for owners or affiliates.
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Neptune Energy operates a natural gas pipeline and maintains a policy of selecting shippers aligned with its operational values. State regulators order it to provide nondiscriminatory access to a competitor shipper whose practices conflict with those values. The company resists on the ground that the order exceeds regulatory authority. The court concludes that the nondiscrimination mandate requires equal terms regardless of the shipper's practices.
Nile Shipping seeks access to an interstate transmission line controlled by a utility. The utility denies service citing capacity limits that apply unevenly to non-affiliates. Nile challenges the denial as violating nondiscriminatory access rules. The court examines whether the utility's selective allocation meets the equal-treatment standard required for open transmission.
Pipelines must separate merchant and transportation functions and offer transportation service to all shippers on equal terms. When demand exceeds capacity, service is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis within a zone of reasonableness for rates.
Supporting sources
Yes. Federal law requires every permit or right-of-way for OCS pipeline transportation to mandate open and nondiscriminatory access to both owner and non-owner shippers.
Supporting sources
…Rights Cases and Harris , having determined "the indictment [charging private individuals with conspiring to deprive blacks of equal access to state facilities] in fact contain[ed] an express allegation of state involvement." 383 U. S., at 756. The Court concluded that the implicit allegation of "active connivance by agents of…