Commissioner James Danly Statement
April 30, 2021
Docket No. RP20-921-003
I agree with the Commission’s decision to approve Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C.’s Stipulation and Agreement (Settlement). As I stated in my dissent 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.[1] Though I understand that use of attachments listing “Parties Supporting or Not Opposing the Settlement”[2] is common in the industry, 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 Deepwater Express, LLC, 175 FERC ¶ 61,048 (2021) (Danly, Comm’r, dissenting at P 10 n.12).
[2] Settlement at Schedule 1.