Commissioner James Danly Statement
May 25, 2022
Docket No. RP21-778-004
I agree with the Commission’s decision to approve Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.’s Stipulation and Agreement (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] See S. Star Cent. Gas Pipeline, Inc., 179 FERC ¶ 61,137 (2022).
[2] Kinetic 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 App. A (listing Settling Parties); id. at Article X.A (defining “Settling Parties” as “[a]ll parties and shippers that either expressly indicate support, or indicate they do not oppose, or otherwise implicitly indicate they do not oppose by virtue of acquiescence, silence or inaction”).