OFO Declaration and Termination Summary

 

This summary is in accordance with Section 12.17(d)(4) of the General Terms and Conditions of Panhandle’s Tariff

 

Due to cold weather forecasts, on December 16, 2022, Panhandle issued an extreme weather alert that Panhandle was preparing for increased pipeline utilization and reduced operational flexibility on its system.  Panhandle requested that, effective as of the December 19, 2022, Gas Day, all Delivery Point operators minimize over-takes and all Receipt Point operators minimize under-deliveries into the Panhandle system.  Panhandle also provided notice of the following:

 

·         Intraday scheduling reductions may be implemented to ensure that nominations match actual flowing quantities. Shippers are encouraged to submit their nominations for the Timely cycle.

·         All storage customers are requested to stay at or below their Maximum Daily Withdrawal Quantity (MDWQ). Storage customers should adjust flowing volumes to remain at or below these limits.

·         Additionally, Power Plant Operators must have nominated supply.

·         Panhandle is requesting that all shippers minimize usage of the Auto-Unpark feature.  While not then implemented, Panhandle advised that it may require Shippers to terminate all Auto-Unpark nominations on the pipeline for the duration of the extreme weather. The implementation of this requirement would be evaluated on a daily basis.

·         Panhandle reserved the right to issue OFOs if shippers do not comply with this alert or to further protect the system. 

 

            After the initial extreme weather alert on December 16, 2022, weather conditions grew increasingly severe.  On December 19, 2022, Panhandle issued Update #1 to its extreme weather alert.  In addition to the actions outlined in the December 16, 2022 extreme weather alert, Panhandle notified the shippers that in addition, effective Gas Day December 20, 2022, Panhandle was requiring all Shippers under Rate Schedule EFT, EIT, SCT, GDS or LFT to limit their hourly deliveries to one-sixteenth of the quantity scheduled for delivery on the applicable day.

           

On December 23, 2022, at 10:50 pm central time, Panhandle was required to issue a Notice of OFO for the system because weather conditions continued to deteriorate as seen in the tables below resulting in PEPL experiencing widespread Receipt Point under-deliveries, Delivery Point over-takes and Shipper pool nominations not being adjusted by Shippers as previously requested. Additionally, at least one upstream pipeline operator experienced a Force Majeure event that materially impacted deliveries into the PEPL system.  Panhandle issued the OFO to be effective immediately to alleviate conditions that threatened the Panhandle system’s integrity, safety or reliability of service.  Panhandle notified shippers that they were required to use their best efforts to comply with the OFO as soon as possible, but in no event later than two hours, after which the applicable scheduling charges or unauthorized overrun penalties would apply.  Accordingly, shippers and point operators were required to take the following actions:

 

·         All Auto-Unpark nominations must be reduced to zero in the Field Zone.

·         All over- takes at Delivery Points must be brought to 0.

·         All under-deliveries at Receipt Points must be brought to 0.

·         All storage customers must be at or below their Maximum Daily Withdrawal Quantity (MDWQ)

·         All unauthorized over runs must be brought to 0.

·         All scheduling variances are reduced to 5%.

·         All nominations for receipts must match the flow of gas volumes physically delivered to receipt points across the system until further notice.

 

 

Temperatures measured at different Panhandle locations were as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panhandle advised shippers that the OFO was expected to remain in place until December 26, 2022.  As seen in the following illustration, Panhandle experienced a significant drop in line pack levels due to volume shortages and certain shippers’ failures to adjust nominations which eventually led to the necessity to issue the OFO.

 

 

On December 27, 2022, at 9:00 am central time, Panhandle terminated the OFO because of improving circumstances related to weather and supply shortages on the system which led to increased line pack levels.  Also on December 28, 2022, at 9:00 am central time, Panhandle issued Update #2 to its extreme weather alert to lift the restrictions.