Commissioner James Danly Statement
August 1, 2022
Docket No. RP21-760-002
I agree with the Commission’s decision to approve Kinetica Energy Express, LLC’s Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement (Settlement).[1] As I stated in my separate statement in Kinetica Deepwater Express, LLC, I suggest to anyone participating in the natural gas industry that it might be prudent to be clearer in your settlement agreements as to whether you are actually a party to that agreement.[2] Though I understand that the use of an attachment listing parties supporting or not opposing a settlement is common in the industry,[3] situations will almost certainly arise in which an entity’s status as party or non‑party to a settlement will be dispositive. This will be even more important should the issue be presented to a body less indifferent to fundamentals of contract law than this Commission.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] Kinetica Energy Express, LLC, 180 FERC ¶ 61,070 (2022).
[2] Kinetica Deepwater Express, LLC, 175 FERC ¶ 61,048 (2021) (Danly, Comm’r, concurring in part and dissenting in part at P 10 n.12).
[3] See Settlement at Article VIII.A (defining supporting and non-opposing parties); id. at Schedule 1 (listing parties supporting or not opposing settlement).