Arco Alaska, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and United States of America, Mapco Alaska Petroleum, Inc., Intervenors

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WILLIAMS.

STEPHEN F. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

The heyday of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (“TAPS”) is over. The large oil fields on the North Slope, from which the pipeline has long carried oil 800 miles to Valdez, are aging. With the decline in production TAPS is carrying fewer barrels of petroleum today than in the past. This decline has critical implications for rates charged on the pipeline.

Petitioners challenge the continued validity of a ratemaking method designed when the pipeline operated at capacity to compensate for the greater…