SECTION 7.301. Annual Report

(a) Each gas utility, public utility, or utility under the jurisdiction of the Commission shall file with the Commission each year a gathering, transmission, or distribution annual report showing that information required by the Commission to enable it to properly regulate natural gas utilities within the state. The annual report shall be made on a form approved by Gas Services, printed or otherwise made available to all gas utilities by Gas Services. The annual report shall be made on a calendar year basis with the reports being due not later than April 1 of each calendar year for the preceding calendar year. The annual report shall be filed with Gas Services.

(b) All intrastate gas utilities shall file either a gathering, transmission or distribution annual report with Gas Services. Gas gathering utilities, as defined in subsection (c) of this section, shall file the Gathering Annual Report. The Transmission Annual Report shall be filed by those gas utilities that do not meet the definition of a gas gathering utility and are not engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential and commercial end users. The Distribution Annual Report shall be filed by those gas utilities that are engaged in the retail distribution of gas to end users.

(c) For the purpose of determining which annual report to file, a "gas gathering utility" shall be defined as a gas utility or public utility which employs a pipeline or pipelines and ancillary facilities thereto in the first taking or the first retaining of possession of gas produced by others which extends from any point where such gas is produced, purchased, or received to the trunk line or main line of transportation where such gas is sold or delivered, without regard to the size, the length, or the amount of such gas carried through such pipeline or pipelines to the trunk line or main line of transportation, thus having as its primary function the collecting or collecting and processing of gas produced by others as a preliminary incident to the transportation after it has been severed from the earth by production.

(d) Any utility under the regulation of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) which alleges that it makes no intrastate sales and engages in no intrastate transportation may file a copy of its FERC Form 2 or such other annual report as may be required by that agency in lieu of the annual report form prescribed by this section. The utility shall include an affidavit that the utility makes no intrastate sales and engages in no intrastate transportation and shall provide any other information required by Gas Services. If, upon examination, Gas Services determines that a utility filing under this section should properly have filed an annual report on the form prescribed by Gas Services, Gas Services shall notify the utility in writing and the utility shall file the appropriate report within 30 days.

(e) The definition of the "gas gathering utility" system described herein shall apply regardless of whether a gas plant is located on the pipeline or pipelines comprising a gas gathering utility system and regardless of ownership of any such gas plant.

(f) In determining whether a utility meets the definition of gas gathering utility in subsection (c) of this section, the Commission shall determine if the primary function of the pipeline or pipelines is gathering rather than relying solely on the configuration or location of the facilities comprising the system.

(g) This section is made to comply with the orders issued in Gas Utilities Docket Numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6, which orders are hereby incorporated into this section.

(h) If a gas utility is unable to meet the deadline for filing an annual report, the utility may request an extension of time to file. The utility shall make such a request in writing filed with Gas Services, and shall state the reason or reasons the utility cannot meet the filing deadline and the date by which the utility will file the annual report. Gas Services will notify the utility of the new deadline, as approved.

Source Note: The provisions of this §7.301 adopted to be effective July 29, 2002, 27 TexReg 6687; amended to be effective May 14, 2018, 43 TexReg 2997