Michigan Wisconsin Pipe Line Company v. Federal Power Commission, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, Intervenor

TAMM, Circuit Judge:

This case presents yet another chapter in the Federal Power Commission’s ongoing effort to implement its advance payments program. The specific controversy here concerns the rejection by the Commission of rate base treatment for a particular advance payment made outside of the “lower 48 states.” Because we find the Commission’s approach in taking this action deficient in several respects, we must remand the case to it for further consideration.

I

Advance payments, a relatively recent innovation, are essentially monies loaned by pipeline companies to their suppliers for the…