FERC confirms gas-electric standards

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 22 approved new business-practice standards for interstate natural gas pipelines aimed at improving coordination with the electric sector during extreme cold weather. The rule adopts changes developed by the North American Energy Standards Board, or NAESB, after federal regulators and reliability officials examined failures during Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022. FERC said the standards are meant to improve access to gas-electric coordination data and strengthen communication among pipeline operators, generators and grid operators during emergency conditions. The action sits in docket RM96-1-044 and completes a rulemaking FERC proposed in October 2025. ### What did FERC actually approve? FERC’s final rule adopts Version 4.0 updates to NAESB’s Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines. The standards were approved by NAESB’s Wholesale Gas Quadrant in November 2024 and include two new standards and one revised standard tied to gas-electric coordination during cold weather events. One new standard, WGQ 0.3.30, requires gas transportation service providers to post schedule quantity information for power plants directly connected to a pipeline in a new “Gas Electric Coordination” posting category. (rtoinsider.com) A revised standard, WGQ 4.3.23, sets up that posting category, and the information can include the nomination cycle, effective gas day, effective time, measurement basis, posting date and time, and scheduled quantity for affected plants. A second new standard, WGQ 5.3.74, requires transportation service providers to include geographic information in critical notices, including impacted areas, locations and pipeline facilities, in addition to making that information available through computer-to-computer interchange. ### Why did regulators push this now? Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022 triggered power outages for millions of customers across the eastern half of the United States and exposed the dependence of the power grid on the gas system. (rtoinsider.com) In a final report released in November 2023, FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said the storm showed a need for stronger gas-electric coordination, additional cold-weather reliability work and improvements to natural gas infrastructure reliability. FERC said NAESB’s revisions stemmed from that joint Elliott report, which recommended that NAESB work with the gas and electric industries to identify opportunities to improve situational awareness in future cold weather events. FERC’s cold-weather reliability page says the agency and NERC enlisted NAESB to find ways the electric and natural gas industries can work more closely together when freezing weather hits, and it lists gas-electric coordination work as completed. (ferc.gov) ### What problem are these standards trying to solve? NERC said in comments on the proposal that the standards are “critical for reliable operation of both gas and electric systems” because they provide “a common platform for operational data exchange.” FERC said the revised standards will streamline access to publicly available gas-electric coordination data during extreme cold weather or emergency events and improve communication among market participants to enhance situational awareness. (rtoinsider.com) The underlying issue is that gas-fired generators often rely on pipeline service and fuel deliveries that can be disrupted or reprioritized during winter storms. A FERC fact sheet on capacity release says NAESB reconvened its Gas Electric Harmonization forum in 2023 to address the inability of some gas-fired generators to purchase natural gas during the winter storms of 2021 and 2022. The same fact sheet says the forum examined how generators without contracted pipeline capacity might secure gas and transportation during extreme weather. (rtoinsider.com) ### Does this create new reliability mandates for the gas system? FERC’s order does not create a NERC-style mandatory winterization regime for the broader natural gas system. Instead, it adopts communication and posting standards for interstate pipelines under FERC’s existing business-practice authority. Willie Phillips, who was FERC chairman when the Elliott report was released in 2023, said then that “someone must have authority to establish and enforce gas reliability standards.” Jim Robb, NERC’s president and chief executive, said at the time that the report showed the “interdependence” of the gas and electric systems and called for action on reliable gas and electric infrastructure. (ferc.gov) Those broader questions remain separate from the narrower NAESB standards FERC just adopted. (rtoinsider.com) ### What comes next for pipelines and market participants? FERC received eight comments on the October 2025 proposal, and the commission said most were supportive. The next formal reference points are the final rule in docket RM96-1-044 and the NAESB Version 4.0 standards materials that pipelines and market participants will use to implement the new posting and notice requirements. (rtoinsider.com) (ferc.gov)