Note:
Jeffrey O. Bramlett, Regulatory Opportunity and Statutory Ambiguity in the Search for High-Cost Natural Gas, 57 Texas L. Rev. 641 (1979).
 

Abstract:
The Natural Gas Policy Act clearly presents some advantages over the previous Natural Gas Act, but the imposition of price ceilings predetermined by statute invites administrative inflexibility in dealing with the varying circumstances of individual producers and production prospects. Recognizing the need for regulation more sensitive to specific circumstances of production, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was given some latitude to deviate from the statutory system of price classification. With section 107 being the most significant, this note traces attempts by Congress and the Federal Power Commission (FPC), FERC’s predecessor, to define high-cost gas and to fashion appropriate incentives to encourage its development. This note urges FERC to consider economic concepts as well as physical criteria in defining the content of the statutorily novel “extraordinary risks or costs” standard. Finally it identifies ambiguities between section 107 and the Energy Tax Act of 1978 (ETA).