Section 530.10  Standards

 

a)         Natural gas ("gas"), as defined in Section 1.07 of "AN ACT to provide for the use of gas transmission facilities by energy entities," (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 111 ⅔, par. 571.07) produced from wells in Illinois (including methane produced from the anaerobic decomposition of municipal refuse) for use in Illinois and to be transported by a gas public utility in Illinois must meet the following standards before the gas may be placed into the utility's gas system.  These standards do not apply to contracts existing prior to the effective date of this Part.

 

1)         The gas shall be commercially free from dust, gum, gum forming constituents, and other solid and/or liquid matter.

 

2)         The gas shall contain not more than 5 pounds of water per one million standard cubic feet.

 

3)         The gas shall not contain products in amounts that will result in detrimental corrosion which would cause premature failure of pipe, equipment or customer appliances over the normal life span of the pipe, equipment, or appliances.

 

4)         The gas shall not contain more than .25 grain of hydrogen sulphide per 100 cubic feet and not more than 1 grain of total sulfur per 100 cubic feet.

 

5)         The gas shall not contain more than 3% by volume of carbon dioxide.

 

6)         The gas shall not contain more than .5% by volume of oxygen.

 

7)         The gas shall not contain more than 5 parts per million by volume of halogenated hydrocarbons at any time.

 

8)         The gas temperature shall be between the limits of 40° and 110° Fahrenheit when delivered to the utility for transportation.

 

9)         The gas shall not cause a reduction in the Btu content of the gas delivered to the utility's customers unless the blended gases delivered to the individual customers are fully compensated by a Btu correction factor stated in the utility's tariffs.

 

10)         The transported gas must be interchangeable with the utility's system gas so that the gas will burn in customers' equipment without any adjustments to the customers' equipment being required.  Interchangeability will be determined in accordance with the American Gas Association's Research Bulletin 36, "Interchangeability of Other Fuel Gases with Natural Gases" (1952, Second Edition).  No later amendment or edition is incorporated by this subsection.

 

b)         Tests to determine the gas quality and containing gas quality are the responsibility of the energy entity.  Treatment of the gas to cause the gas to meet the standards of this Part is the responsibility of the energy entity.  Testing shall be subject to monitoring by the utility.

 

Section 530.15  Other Compounds

 

The gas, before and after burning, shall not contain the following compounds in excess of listed concentrations in parts per million.

 

Compound	Concentration
Pentane	600
Hexane	50
Benzene	10
Iso-octane	300
Methylbenzene	100
Ethylbenzene	100
m,p-xylene	100
o-xylene	100
Nonane	200
Isopropylbenzene	50
Naphthalene	10

 

 

Section 530.20  Delivery Requirements

 

Natural gas delivered by the private energy entities for transportation by a utility shall meet the following conditions:

 

a)         The transportation of the gas for a private energy entity by the utility shall not result in increased revenue requirements for the utility.

 

b)         The gas shall be delivered to the utility at a point of interconnection with the utility system which has sufficient capacity to transport the hourly gas deliveries requested by the private energy entity when such capacity is not required by the utility to meet the hourly gas demands of its customers.  "Capacity of the utility system" means the various gas capacities in Mcf/hour (thousand cubic feet per hour) along the route of the mains that will be used to transport the private energy entity's gas and includes capacity that can be made available to transport the entity's gas by displacement of the utility's system.

 

c)         The utility is not required to provide any system capacity (including any interconnections) for the transportation and delivery of private energy entity gas when the capacity is needed by the utility to meet the gas delivery requirements of its existing customers.

 

d)         If sufficient capacity is not available, a private energy entity may contract with the utility for the utility for the utility to provide pipelines and associated equipment (such as regulating and pressure relief equipment) necessary to transport and deliver the private energy entity's gas.

 

e)         The private energy entity shall provide the gas at pressures sufficient to inject the gas into the utility's system without exceeding the pressure limitation and operating limitations imposed on the piping system by 92 Ill. Adm. Code 1800.

 

f)         The private energy entity shall contract with the utility to odorize the gas at levels used in the system by the utility.

 

g)         Metering equipment shall be provided by the private energy entity, but shall be approved by the utility prior to installation.  Meter reading and periodic calibration of the metering facilities will be subject to monitoring and witnessing by the utility.  The energy entity may contract with the utility to provide the metering equipment and/or the maintenance and/or the reading thereof.  In this event, the energy entity may monitor and witness the reading and periodic calibration of the meters.

 

Section 530.30  Rights of Parties

 

a)         The utility will have the right to refuse the delivery and transportation of private energy entity's gas if any of the requirements specified in Section 530.10, 530.15 or 530.20 are not met.

 

b)         The energy entity shall have the right to challenge any actions taken by the utilities under authority of this Part by filing an informal or formal complaint with the Commission pursuant to the Commission's Rules of Practice, 83 Ill. Adm. Code 200.

 

c)         If any existing condition, in the judgment of any public utility or private energy entity, justifies deviation from Section 530.10(a)(1) through (8) of this Part in any particular case, a petition may be filed setting forth a full statement of such conditions and the reasons and purpose of such proposed deviation.  The Commission shall allow such deviation if the deviation will not decrease the quality of gas delivered to customers and will not damage the transmission system of the utility.