BP West Coast Products, LLC v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and United States of America [Part III]

BP West Coast Products, LLC v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and United States of America

Part III of III

The Commission then reversed course in Opinion No. 435-B and disallowed recovery of the reconditioning costs only. Its reasoning for disallowing one surcharge but permitting the other was that ''unlike the [Commission] regulatory costs, none of [SFPP's reconditioning costs] were incurred in the test period.'' 96 FERC at 62,078. The rate litigation surcharge included SFPP's actual costs after 1994. So the Commission's ruling suggests that it matters, to recovery of costs incurred outside of the test year, whether a carrier also incurred costs of the same general nature in the test year itself. The logic behind this distinction, as applied to costs that benefit the carrier's system but are not expected to regularly recur, is neither explained in Opinion No. 435-B itself, nor is it obvious. Should the Commission wish to rely on this reasoning on remand, it must articulate and justify more carefully what its policy on the recoverability of nontest-year expenses is.

The Commission did explain that SFPP's rates were indexed to account for cost increases after the test year, and that SFPP could not meet the ''substantial divergence'' standard for showing that indexing failed to account for increases in its cost of service due to reconditioning expenses after 1994. Cf. 18 C.F.R. § 342.4(a) (2004). Assuming that the Commission can explain its different treatment of rate litigation and reconditioning costs incurred in years after the 1994 test year, this may be a reasonable basis for denying recovery, but the Commission's opinion provides no analysis for why it is true. Where the Commission had found SFPP's cost of service to be roughly $14 million a year, SFPP was claiming reconditioning costs of roughly $1 million a year, a not insubstantial amount. The Commission provided no estimate or analysis of how any supplemental revenues to SFPP resulting from rate indexing, or from increased throughput in years after 1994, compare to those expenses.

The Commission also stated that permitting recovery of the refurbishing costs ''after the fact'' would ''raise serious questions under the filed rate doctrine.'' Opinion No. 435-B, 96 FERC at 62,078. The filed rate doctrine ''forbids a regulated entity to charge rates for its services other than those properly filed with the appropriate federal regulatory authority.'' Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. v. Hall, 453 U.S. 571, 577 (1981). The Commission did not articulate what type of ''serious questions'' it thought such recovery would raise. Because a prospective surcharge would presumably be on file with the Commission, the court presumes that the Commission meant that an amortized surcharge, by prospectively recovering SFPP's expenses from past years, would violate the related rule against retroactive ratemaking, which requires that ''a utility may not set rates to recoup past losses, nor may the Commission prescribe rates on that principle.'' Southern California Edison Co. v. FERC, 805 F.2d 1068, 1070 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 1986) (quoting Nader v. FCC, 520 F.2d 182, 202 (D.C. Cir. 1975)).

This logic, again, raises the question of why such recovery is any more permissible for rate litigation expenses than it is for reconditioning costs. The Commission seems to place SFPP in a Catch-22: it cannot recover its reconditioning costs prospectively or contemporaneously because the cost of the project is too uncertain until the costs are incurred, but then once the costs are certain it is too late because recovery would involve retroactive charges. Absent a better explanation for the Commission's conclusion that SFPP has recovered its reconditioning costs through the indexed rates, it is unclear how the costs of any multi-year project whose cost is not ''known and measurable with reasonable certainty'' in advance, 18 C.F.R. § 346.2(a)(1)(ii), could ever be recovered, were this reasoning to be consistently adopted. The Commission ruled in Opinion No. 435-A that prospective recovery of SFPP's reconditioning costs would be appropriate because of ''benefits that flowed to the system when the costs were incurred,'' 91 FERC at 61,518, implying that it initially did not view the rule against retroactive rulemaking as an obstacle because the expenses provided an ongoing benefit that would continue to accrue in future years. In light of the Commission's failure to explain why it now considers the rule against retroactive rulemaking (or the filed rate doctrine) to bar recovery, and because no party has briefed this question in any detail, the court remands so that the Commission, if it wishes to continue relying on this reasoning, may better explain it.

The Commission may have answers to these concerns, but they are not provided in the Opinions on review. SFPP's shippers are presently enjoying the benefits of what appears to be an expensive pipeline reconditioning program without sharing in any of its costs. If, in the Commission's opinion, they should not have to, the Commission needs to provide a more thorough explanation of why not. Accordingly, we remand SFPP's request to recover its reconditioning costs for the East Line between 1995 and 1998 to the Commission for further consideration.

III. Reparations

A. Background and Proceedings Below
After determining that SFPP's East Line rates were not just and reasonable, the ALJ ordered SFPP to pay reparations to the ELS which had filed complaints against the rates. ALJ Decision, 80 FERC at 61,308. In Opinion No. 435, the Commission considered various objections to the reparations on the part of both SFPP and the shippers but reaffirmed that SFPP was to pay reparations as determined by the Commission. See id. at 61,111-14. Specifically, the Commission ruled that the period for the calculation of reparations would run from the date of each complaint until March 31, 1999, the effective date of revised East Line rates required by Opinion No. 435.

In calculating the potential reparations, the Commission retroactively applied the test year approach it had used to set SFPP's prospective rates: SFPP was to develop an East Line cost of service for a test year, 1994; design a rate that reflected that cost of service; index that rate to December 31, 1998; and apply that indexed rate to designated volumes adopted by Opinion No. 435 for each calendar year for which an indexed rate had been developed. Using the new cost of service thus established for years 1994-1998 and partial year 1999, SFPP was to determine whether the revenues for each period resulted in an over or under-recovery of its cost of service. FERC's order permitted SFPP to ''net out its over and under recoveries for each year and determine that net amount, if any, that is due its East Line Shippers.'' Id. at 61,114. FERC ordered a similar calculation of reparations for years prior to 1994 based on the calculation of under- or over-recovery of cost of service in those years. As to reparations in general, FERC held that no shipper was entitled to reparations for periods prior to the filing date of a complaint. Id. at 61,112-13.

On rehearing, FERC held that Navajo was the only complainant that had filed a challenge to East Line rates. Thus, only Navajo could recover reparations. Opinion No. 435-A, 91 FERC at 61,514. FERC granted Navajo reparations beginning one month prior to the filing of its December 23, 1993, complaint to SFPP's rates. FERC also noted that Navajo had entered a settlement with SFPP in 1989. That settlement barred Navajo from bringing action against SFPP until November 23, 1993. With those provisos, FERC ordered SFPP to calculate the limited reparations still in order on the East Line based on the difference between per-barrel rates charged and per-barrel rates that would have been charged had SFPP charged cost-based rates using a 1994 test year, and to index such rates annually going forward - in other words, the difference between the charged rates and the rates that SFPP should have charged. In sum, the Commission modified its prior order and decreed that:
"SFPP will calculate the gross reparations that would be due if all shippers that had used the East Line had filed complaints for the applicable reparations period ... establish[ ing] the total revenue that was received in excess of the new East Line rates established by the prior order. Navajo will be paid its pro rata share of the reparations for the relevant time frame."

Id. at 61,518. The Commission noted that because Navajo was the only shipper entitled to reparations, the calculations ''should leave a surplus of revenues in excess of the East Line restated cost of service between the beginning of the reparations period and the actual date on which the restated rates began to be collected by SFPP.'' Id.

The shippers petitioned for rehearing of FERC's reconsideration order, which FERC granted in part. This time, FERC held that Chevron, Western, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil were, like Navajo, entitled to reparations for overcharges that occurred two years prior to the filing of their complaints. Opinion No. 435-B, 96 FERC at 62,071-74. FERC held that Valero was not entitled to reparations, because its complaint was filed after August 7, 1995, the last date complaints were consolidated in the proceedings. Id. at 62,072. The Commission subsequently clarified Opinion No. 435-B by stating that Chevron's eligibility for reparations was determined as of its August 3, 1993 complaint, not a protest it filed September 23, 1992. Clarification and Rehearing Order, 97 FERC ¶ 61,138.

SFPP now argues that the Commission ought not have awarded any reparations whatsoever. Navajo contends that it was improperly denied reparations prior to November 23, 1993. Chevron alleges that FERC improperly set the commencement date for calculating its reparations. And Valero, BP WCP, and Chevron all claim that they were improperly denied reparations.
B. Analysis
1. SFPP

SFPP argues that the underlying orders were arbitrary and capricious for four related reasons. First, SFPP contends that awarding ELS reparations is impermissible retroactive ratemaking, in violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Arizona Grocery Co. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., 284 U.S. 370 (1932). Second, it asserts that FERC's award of pre-complaint reparations violates the EPAct. Third, SFPP advances that FERC improperly awarded reparations based on a ''test period,'' disregarding damages actually suffered and proved by complainants. Finally, SFPP argues that FERC failed to consider substantial arguments - such as the novelty and complexity of SFPP's rate case - that militated against awarding reparations. For the reasons stated below, we reject all four claims.

a. The Arizona Grocery Rule
Arizona Grocery proscribes ''the retroactive revision of established rates through ex post reparations.'' Verizon Tel. Cos. v. FCC, 269 F.3d 1098, 1107 (D.C. Cir. 2001); see also Ala. Power Co. v. ICC, 852 F.2d 1361, 1373 (D.C. Cir. 1988). Otherwise put, Arizona Grocery bars reparations that retroactively change a final Commission-approved rate. SFPP relies on Arizona Grocery to argue that Opinion No. 435 was a final order prescribing just and reasonable rates, and thus FERC was barred from awarding reparations when SFPP's rate was effectively further lowered as a result of FERC's subsequent orders. SFPP argues that Opinion No. 435 was a final order setting rates ''to be thereafter observed'' under ICA Section 15(1), and therefore that the subsequent orders were retroactive changes of Opinion No. 435. We disagree.

Arizona Grocery is of no help to SFPP in this case. Arizona Grocery applies only where the Commission has ''declared what is the maximum reasonable rate to be charged by a carrier.'' 284 U.S. at 390. Yet FERC did not finalize a maximum reasonable rate in Opinion No. 435 and in fact repeatedly stated it was not doing so. Thus Opinion No. 435 set no final rate; rather, FERC only established a final rate at the completion of the OR92-8 proceedings. SFPP, L.P., 100 FERC ¶ 61,353, 62,625 (2002) (''September 26 Order''). The OR92-8 proceedings were compliance filings. SFPP's filing in Docket No. OR92-8-013 showed SFPP's calculations for determining how its East Line rates should be structured to reflect the requirements of Opinion No. 435-B. SFPP later amended that in Docket No. OR92-8-015 to address the exclusion of the interest element from the calculation of the total potential reparation pool that would be due under the Commission's prior orders. Id. at 62,622.

The record shows that at each point, the Commission said that final East Line rates would not be established until the OR92-8 proceedings were completed. September 26 Order, 100 FERC at 62,625. In response to Opinion No. 435, SFPP filed a tariff establishing a rate, but the Commission concluded that the tariff could not be determined to be just and reasonable until review of the Docket No. OR92-8 compliance filing was completed. The Commission accepted the tariff for filing and suspended it, subject to refund, pending review of the compliance filing. SFPP, L.P., 87 FERC ¶ 61,056, 61,225-26 (1999). Nor did FERC's next opinion on the subject make that rate final. Opinion No. 435-A merely reaffirmed the suspension of the previously filed tariff based on the significant chance that the proposed rate levels in it would change depending on how the protests and related requests for rehearing were resolved. 91 FERC at 61,520. It did not finalize the rate.

FERC's subsequent orders concerning SFPP's proposed rates were similarly nonfinal. FERC accepted for filing SFPP's Tariff No. 60, filed to comply with Opinion No. 435-A, with a proposed effective date of August 1, 2000, but suspended it subject to refund. SFPP, L.P., 92 FERC ¶ 61,166, 61,563-64 (2000). Opinion No. 435-B approved the August 1, 2000, effective date because that was the date the Commission accepted SFPP's compliance filing, and directed a further compliance filing, also to be effective August 1, 2000. 96 FERC at 62,071, 62,079. SFPP filed Tariff No. 67 (later corrected in Tariff No. 68), with a proposed effective date of December 1, 2001. SFPP, L.P., 98 FERC ¶ 61,177, 61,657 (2002). The Director of the Division of Tariffs and Rates Central rejected the tariffs because Opinion No. 435-B required an effective date of August 1, 2000. Id. FERC's order memorializing the rejection made clear that FERC's previous orders suspended, subject to refund, SFPP's proposed tariffs "pending resolution of the numerous compliance issues that have been raised in the course of these proceedings. In each of the prior Opinions the Commission has made clear that SFPP must recalculate the rates to be applied in compliance with those Opinions and that any prior calculations of reparations and surcharges must be adjusted accordingly." Id.

The Commission has thus been clear from the outset and throughout that no final rate determination would be made until the OR92-8 proceedings were complete. September 26 Order, 100 FERC at 62,625. As a result, the Commission's orders requiring reparations do not violate the prohibition in Arizona Grocery from subjecting a carrier to payment of reparations with respect to a final rate. The Commission did not establish final lawful rates where it has expressly reserved authority to make adjustments in the context of an ongoing proceeding in which the methodology for determining the rate had not even been established. Id. at 62,626.

SFPP contends that the Commission's reparations orders violate ICA Section 15(7), which authorizes refunds of ''such increased rates or charges'' as ''shall be found not justified.'' 49 U.S.C. app. § 15(7) (1988). But Section 15(7) is an authorization, not a prohibition, and FERC did not invoke this provision in awarding the shippers reparations. The Commission found it inappropriate for this complaint proceeding to go forward under Section 15(7), SFPP, L.P., 63 FERC ¶ 61,014, 61,124 (1993), and thus no relief was awarded under that section. Rather, FERC proceeded under ICA §§ 8, 9, and 16(1), which specifically authorize the Commission to award damages in a Section 13 complaint. 49 U.S.C. app. §§ 8, 9 & 16(1) (1988). SFPP also contends that FERC lacks authority to issue ''interim'' rates after ruling on a complaint. Yet nothing in Section 15(1) prohibits FERC from directing a pipeline to file an interim rate, subject to suspension and refund, if there is a possibility that the final rates will be lower than the interim rates. Indeed, the Supreme Court has held that under the ICA the Commission has authority - in response to an initial rate filing - to direct an oil pipeline to file interim rates to go into effect, subject to refund, during the suspension period for the initial rates. Trans Alaska Pipeline Rate Cases, 436 U.S. 631, 654-56 (1978). See also FPC v. Tenn. Gas Transmission Co., 371 U.S. 146, 146-57 (1962); FPC v. Natural Gas Pipeline Co., 315 U.S. 575, 585 (1942).

Therefore, we hold that when the Commission awarded reparations, it was not constrained by Arizona Grocery's blanket prohibition on retroactive repeals of ratemaking.

b. Pre-Complaint Reparations
SFPP's second contention is that the EPAct precludes precomplaint reparations in a Section 13 proceeding, and that each complainant may seek reparations only for overcharges that date from the filing of its own complaint. We disagree. EPAct Section 1803(b) provides:
"If the Commission determines pursuant to a proceeding instituted as a result of a complaint under section 13 of the Interstate Commerce Act that the rate is not just and reasonable, the rate shall not be deemed to be just and reasonable. Any tariff reduction or refunds that may result as an outcome of such a complaint shall be prospective from the date of the filing of the complaint."

EPAct § 1803(b). The ICA, however, allows reparations for up to two years prior to the date of the filing of a complaint if the rates paid in those two years exceed the just and reasonable rate established in the complaint proceeding. See 49 U.S.C. app. § 16(3)(b) (1988).

SFPP contends that the last clause of Section 1803(b) is applicable to any and all complaints filed under ICA Section 13, and therefore that reparations awarded for all complaints - including those for East Line rates - must be prospective from the filing of the complaints. We agree with SFPP that EPAct Section 1803(b) prohibits retroactive ratemaking, but we think that it does so only for those rates that were ''grandfathered'' under this section. Section 1803(b) does not apply to complaints challenging non-grandfathered rates. In its prefatory clause, it explicitly refers only to ''a complaint ... against a rate deemed just and reasonable under [Section 1803(a)].'' The second-to-last sentence of Section 1803(b) expressly relates only to complaints on which FERC acts to determine grandfathered rates, otherwise ''deemed to be just and reasonable,'' to be just and reasonable. The reference to ''such a complaint'' in the last sentence of Section 1803(b) plainly refers back to the prior references in Section 1803(b) to complaints against rates ''deemed to be just and reasonable'' under Section 1803(a).

Because the East Line rates were challenged within the one-year period prior to enactment of the EPAct, they are not grandfathered under Section 1803. Accordingly, relief for East Line rate complainants is governed by ''the traditional standards of the ICA, including section 16's provision for a two year reparations period retroactive from the date of the complaint.'' SFPP, L.P., 68 FERC ¶ 61,306, 61,582 (1994).

FERC's order tracked this interpretation of the statute precisely. FERC found that shippers filing a complaint against SFPP's East Line rates may recover reparations for the two-year period prior to the date of their complaints. The Commission determined that the EPAct barred precomplaint relief only for complaints against grandfathered rates. Thus, FERC correctly found that Section 1803(b) does not apply to complaints challenging the East Line rates that FERC held not to be grandfathered.

c. Test Period
Next, SFPP challenges the methodology FERC ordered SFPP to use to calculate reparations. In Opinion No. 435-A, FERC ordered SFPP to use the following method. First, FERC said, SFPP must determine what the just and reasonable rate would have been in each year between 1994 and August 1, 2000 - as well as two years back from the date of the earliest complaint - and then calculate what the appropriate gross revenues would have been from that rate. The difference between the gross revenue under the new just and reasonable rates would create the total reparations pool -the amount SFPP would pay to all eligible shippers. SFPP would then calculate the reparations due each eligible shipper (including interest), leaving a residual in the pool of funds that could not be distributed because certain shippers had not filed a complaint within the time frame of the proceeding. The residual pool would then be credited against the total supplemental costs permitted under Opinion No. 435-A between 1995 and 1998. Any remaining allowable costs would then be recovered through a five-year surcharge.

To estimate what gross revenues would have been in those years, the Commission directed that SFPP use a test year cost of service, divided by the test year's volumes, to replace the previous unit rate not found to be just and reasonable. Opinion No. 435-A, 91 FERC at 61,516. The reparations payment due for each year would be the difference between the revenues generated in that year under the old rates and the revenues that would have been generated under the final new rates. Id.

SFPP challenges the estimation methodology proposed by FERC - specifically FERC's direction to use a ''test period'' to estimate past gross revenues. SFPP contends that basing the reparations calculations on a rate derived from a historical test period ''makes no sense in the real world, as it wrongly assumes SFPP's actual cost of service did not change appreciably over a period of eight years or more.'' We once again disagree.

The use of test periods to set the cost of service for rates intended to span a number of years is well established. See, e.g., Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. v. FERC, 165 F.3d 54, 56 (D.C. Cir. 1999). As we have noted, it is ordinarily impossible for a pipeline to know at the time of filing what its actual costs will be during the effective period of the filed rates, and so the use of a ''test period'' for calculating the cost of service is appropriate. Id. While use of a test period is not perfect, it is a reasonable proxy for actual costs. See generally American Public Power Ass'n v. FPC, 522 F.2d 142 (D.C. Cir. 1975); see also Public Serv. Co. v. FERC, 832 F.2d 1201, 1218 (10th Cir. 1987). It was therefore reasonable for the Commission to base reparations calculations on the same test period methodology it uses to calculate prospective rates. To the extent SFPP contends that the Commission's reliance on the test year approach unreasonably denied it recovery of certain expenses it incurred after the test period, those concerns are addressed in Part II of our opinion.

The Commission also properly determined that rates based on the test period could be used to calculate reparations for the two years prior to the filing of the complaints. See ALJ Decision, 80 FERC at 65,203. There is no basis to conclude that test period rates that are just and reasonable for all future years do not provide a just and reasonable basis for determining reparations in the two years prior to the complaints. Id.

SFPP further contends that it should have been allowed to offset under-recovery of its cost of service in some years with over-recovery of its cost of service in other years, based on ICC decisions permitting netting of multi-year data in determining reparations. As explained, however, the Commission reasonably found that consideration of the costs from every year was not feasible. While the Surface Transportation Board (formerly ICC) determines the total revenue stream required to recover the costs of particular service over its economic life, FERC has reasonably decided to calculate reparations by the difference in the unit value of the old and new rate, not the difference in gross and net revenues for the operation of the pipeline as a whole. ALJ Decision, 80 FERC at 65,203. Accordingly, the Commission reasonably found the netting of reparations across the entire reparations period inappropriate in these circumstances.

Moreover, this Court has previously rejected pipeline demands to permit offsetting undercharges and overcharges in different years during a refund period. As we held in Belco Petroleum Corp. v. FERC, 589 F.2d 680, 686-87 (D.C. Cir. 1978), the NGA - like the ICA here - gives the regulated entity no right to collect more than the just and reasonable rate in one period simply because it collected less than the just and reasonable rate in another.

SFPP cites a number of cases for the proposition that the concept of netting multi-year data to assure fairness in reparations is well established, but here a multi-year rate method was not employed. It is thus reasonable to base reparations on a year-to-year basis without netting.

d. Reasoned Decisionmaking
SFPP's fourth contention is that the Commission abused its discretion by failing to consider SFPP's arguments. Although SFPP acknowledges FERC's discretion to award reparations, it points out that it argued that SFPP's rate case was complex and presented issues of first impression, and that SFPP could not have predicted what lawful rates would have been. In sum, it argued before the Commission that it could not have reasonably adjusted its rates. SFPP claims that by giving no consideration to these arguments, FERC failed to engage in reasoned decisionmaking. We reject this contention.

FERC's orders reasonably addressed SFPP's concerns. Although FERC never explicitly responded to SFPP's point that its case was complex, it implicitly did so by finding SFPP's rates unjust and unreasonable. The fact that SFPP's rate case was complex does not alter the Commission's obligation to make a decision as to whether SFPP's rates were unjust and unreasonable. The Commission reasonably responded to SFPP's argument by simply performing its statutory duty to pass on the reasonableness of SFPP's rates, rather than dwelling on the difficulty of the task at hand. Assuming FERC's decision to find the rates just and reasonable was reasoned, it does not become unreasoned simply because FERC reached its decision without explicitly commenting on its difficulty. In any event, it is apparent from the length and complexity of FERC's discussion that it understood the complexity of SFPP's case.

As for SFPP's argument that it could not have predicted the eventual rates, the Commission expressly responded to that reliance argument by stating that SFPP was on notice that its rates were subject to review, and that ''there was a risk that the rates could be found unjust and unreasonable and reparations awarded.'' Opinion No. 435, 86 FERC at 61,113.

Accordingly, the Commission engaged in reasoned decisionmaking in awarding reparations. Although certain matters were complex issues of first impression, FERC did not need to acknowledge that complexity explicitly for its decision to stand.

2. Navajo
Turning next to the shipper petitioners, Navajo contends that it should be awarded reparations for the two years preceding the filing of its complaint on December 22, 1993. As noted above, the Commission concluded that a prior settlement agreement between SFPP's predecessor and Navajo foreclosed Navajo from collecting reparations for this two-year period. We find no error in FERC's decision.

The settlement Navajo entered into with SFPP's predecessor, provided - in Section 2.3 - that:
For the five (5) year period following the effective date of FERC Tariff No. 88 - i.e., November 23, 1988 - Navajo shall not challenge, by complaint or any other means, East Line rates established or increased in conformity with the terms and conditions of this Article, nor shall they seek reparations or other damages with respect to such rates.

Southern Pac. Pipe Lines, Inc., No. IS85-15-000, Stipulation and Settlement Agreement § 2.3 (Jan. 30, 1989) (approved in Southern Pac. Pipe Lines Partnership, L.P., 49 FERC ¶ 61,-081 (1989)).

Navajo contends that this language permits it to seek reparations for the two years prior to filing its complaint, even though those two years are within the five-year settlement rate moratorium. In Navajo's view, this reading is compelled by the contrast between Section 2.3 and Section 1.3 of the 1989 settlement concerning West Line rates. Section 1.3 provides as follows:
"During the (5) year period following November 23, 1988 (the effective date of FERC Tariff No. 88), Navajo shall not challenge, by complaint or any other means, West Line rates established or increased in conformity with the terms and conditions of this Article, nor shall they seek reparations or other damages with respect to such rates for any part of that five (5) year period."
Id. § 1.3.

According to Navajo, the last sentence ''made clear that Navajo not only agreed to refrain from filing a complaint seeking reparations during the five-year period following November 23, 1988, but also agreed to waive its rights to reparations relating to that five-year period.'' In contrast, Navajo argues, ''the provision pertaining to the East Line did not waive the right to seek reparations for rates paid for service on the East Line during the five-year period once the moratorium expired.''

The ALJ disagreed with Navajo, concluding that a ''fair reading of the settlement agreement and the Commission's order approving it precludes claims for reparation by Navajo for rates charged during the period when the settlement was in effect.'' ALJ Decision, 80 FERC at 65,207-08. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's interpretation as ''the only reasonable interpretation'' of the settlement agreement. Opinion No. 435, 86 FERC at 61,111.

We find the Commission's interpretation of the settlement to be reasonable. Section 2.3 expressly provides that Navajo shall not ''seek reparations or other damages'' with respect to the East Line rates for the five-year period following November 23, 1988. Southern Pac. Pipe Lines, Inc., No. IS85-15-000, Stipulation and Settlement Agreement § 2.3 (Jan. 30, 1989). While an additional phrase does appear in Section 1.3, this does not alter the plain meaning of Section 2.3. It is unreasonable to assume that, although obtaining agreement to language expressly referring to a five-year moratorium period for all rate changes, SFPP nevertheless intended to permit Navajo to seek reparations for two of the five years.

Navajo advances a number of theories as to why SFPP might have agreed to a shorter moratorium on East Line reparations. However, there is no evidence that these theories played any part in the negotiations and none of them address the fundamental point that the settlement expressly says five years. The Commission's interpretation of the contract as such is therefore reasonable.

3. Valero
Valero, another shipper, contends that FERC erred by denying it reparations in Opinion No. 435-B. Valero argues that because FERC found that SFPP charged it unjust and unreasonable rates in Opinion No. 435-A, FERC had an obligation to award reparations to it as well. FERC responds that because Valero was not a party to OR92-8, the Commission properly rejected Valero's claim that it is entitled to reparations ''in the same manner'' as the shippers in OR92-8. Valero may be correct that it is entitled to reparations, but we agree with FERC that it is not so entitled in this particular proceeding.

Valero's complaint involves distinct issues from the complaints at issue in this case, and accordingly FERC reasonably denied it recovery in these proceedings. This case concerns shippers who filed their claims prior to August 1995. The timing of their complaint matters, because FERC determined that they were entitled to reparations only for overcharges during the two years preceding the filing of their complaints. In contrast, Valero - then Ultramar Diamond Shamrock - filed its complaint in November 1997. ARCO Products Co., 82 FERC ¶ 61,043, 61,183 (1998). That complaint was docketed as OR98-2, separate from the docket at issue here, OR92-8, consolidated with other complaints filed after August 7, 1995, and all held in abeyance with an opportunity to amend the complaints based on the findings in this proceeding. The post-August 7, 1995 complaints were consolidated in a proceeding separate from OR92-8 because those complaints involve different test periods and cost factors from those addressed in OR92-8. Because Valero filed its complaint in 1997 - and because, as FERC points out, Valero's reparations will be determined based upon a different test period and cost factors, and will be limited to the two years prior to the filing of Valero's complaint - it may well not be entitled to the same reparations as shippers who filed in 1994. Accordingly, Valero must have its reparations claims adjudicated in the OR98-2 proceedings.

Valero's arguments do not convince us otherwise. Valero alleges that FERC's failure to provide reparations to Valero is directly contrary to the plain language and intent of the ICA. Under Section 8 of the ICA, injured shippers are provided a right of action for damages. See 49 U.S.C. app. § 8 (1988). But FERC's denial of reparations in Opinion No. 435-B is perfectly consistent with this provision. FERC did not hold in that order that Valero was not entitled to reparations. Rather, FERC deferred consideration of Valero's entitlement. Accordingly, FERC's decision is consistent with the ICA.

Valero argues that under A.J. Phillips Co. v. Grand Trunk Western Ry. Co., 236 U.S. 662, 665 (1915), its party status in OR92-8 ''is of no moment in awarding reparations.'' Pet. Joint Brief on Rate and Reparations Issues 28. While A.J. Phillips held that finding a rate unreasonable ''inured to the benefit of every person that had been obliged to pay the unjust rate,'' A.J. Phillips, 236 U.S. at 665, it also recognized that a shipper's right to reparations turns on the timely filing of its complaint, and its rights are limited by that complaint. Id. at 665-66 (''But while every person who had paid the rate could take advantage of the finding that the advance was unreasonable, he was obliged to assert his claim within the time fixed by law''). Here, Valero - which filed its complaint in 1997 - is not entitled to the same reparations as the shippers who filed in 1994, since Valero's reparations will be determined upon a different test period and cost factors, and will be limited to the two-year period prior to the filing of Valero's complaint. See 49 U.S.C. app. § 16(3)(b) (1988). Thus, deferring consideration of Valero's claim is consistent with A.J. Phillips Co. While there is some commonality of issues between Valero's complaint proceeding and OR92-8, OR92-8 is not dispositive of Valero's reparations claims. Therefore Valero must await adjudication of its reparations claims in OR98-2.

4. BP West Coast Products and Chevron
Petitioners allege that because both BP WCP (formerly ARCO Products Co.) and Chevron (formerly Texaco Refining and Marketing, Inc.) were injured by SFPP's East Line rates and both jointly filed - on January 14, 1994 - a complaint, FERC violated the ICA by denying them reparations. FERC denied both of these entities damages from the East Line rates because they stated no claim regarding the East Line rates in their complaints. We again agree with FERC. ARCO's and Texaco's complaint simply did not challenge the East Line rates. While their complaint referenced Tariff No. 15 along with other tariffs, which includes East Line rates, that reference was not specific to any rate, but alleged only that shippers shipped petroleum pursuant to one or more of those tariffs. That vague reference fails to state a cognizable complaint against the East Line rates, since otherwise the allegations solely concerned West Line rates.

ARCO's and Texaco's complaint alleged, instead, that their ''shipments basically originate in California and are transported by SFPP to Phoenix and Tucson.'' Transportation from California into Arizona occurs only on the West Line. Consistent with that allegation, the complaint addressed the grandfathering of the West Line rates, and sought reparations, at the least, from the date of the filing of their complaint, which is the standard for grandfathered rates. The affidavit submitted in support of the complaint concluded that ''SFPP's rates on its West Line System exceed the rates that would result from an appropriate application of the Commission's ratemaking methodology by a significant amount.'' SFPP, L.P., No. OR92-8-000, Affidavit of Marsha K. Palazzi 2 (Jan. 18, 1994). No mention of the East Line rates is made in the complaint or the supporting affidavit. Thus, the complaint was only applicable to the West Line rates. See SFPP, L.P., 68 FERC at 61,582. Under these circumstances, the Commission reasonably interpreted the complaint to state a claim only with regard to the West Line rates, and BP WCP and Chevron were properly denied reparations for the East Line rates.

ARCO's October 2, 1992, intervention in OR92-8 does not change this result, see Rate Br. 32, since BP WCP's stated ground for intervention was its ''direct interest'' in the ''new origin point and applicable rates at East Hynes.'' As the East Hynes station is on the West Line, this intervention likewise stated no claim with regard to the East Line rates.

5. Chevron
On September 23, 1992, Chevron filed a protest concerning SFPP's reversal of the flow of the ''six-inch line'' between Tucson and Phoenix, and SFPP's modification of its prorationing policy. On August 3, 1993, Chevron filed a complaint alleging that SFPP's East Line rates were unjust and unreasonable. Chevron demanded reparations ''for the period beginning two years preceding the filing of the Complaint.''

The Commission properly calculated Chevron's East Line rate reparations based on Chevron's 1993 complaint challenging those rates. See supra at 14 n.2. While Chevron argued that its 1993 complaint should relate back to its 1992 protest, the 1992 protest did not challenge the East Line rates, but rather only challenged flow reversal on one of SFPP's lines and its capacity allocation procedures.

Chevron now contends that its East Line reparations should be based upon the date of its 1992 protest because the Commission treated the protest as a complaint. The Commission, held, however, that ''[t]he scope of the complaint proceeding shall be defined by the issues raised by El Paso and Chevron which caused these proceedings to be instituted.'' SFPP, L.P., 63 FERC ¶ 61,275, 62,769 (1993). Chevron's protest ''complained against the reversal of one of SFPP's lines and its capacity allocation procedures, but did not complain against the East Line rates as such.'' Opinion No. 435-A, 91 FERC at 61,514 n.55. Because the protest did not complain about the East Line rates, the Commission properly found that the protest did not trigger reparations for the East Line rates, and dated Chevron's right to reparations from Chevron's August 3, 1993, East Line complaint. SFPP, L.P., 97 FERC ¶ 61,138 61,623-24 (2001) (citing SFPP, L.P., 65 FERC ¶ 61,028); see also SFPP, L.P., 102 FERC ¶ 61,073, 61,183-84 (2003).

The ALJ's determination that reparations demands could relate back to earlier-filed complaints does not aid Chevron. As the ALJ recognized, an amendment to a pleading may relate back when it arises out of the same transaction or occurrence set forth in the original pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15©(2). Because the Commission found that Chevron's original protest did not concern the East Line rates, but rather only the practice of prorationing and reversal of the ''six inch line,'' however, Chevron's claim for East Line rate reparations cannot relate back to that protest. The Commission reasonably determined that Chevron's 1993 complaint, which first stated a claim with regard to the justness and reasonableness of the East Line rates, was the proper basis for determining Chevron's right to reparations.

For the reasons given above, we affirm the decisions of the Commission in awarding reparations and deny the petitions for review in full to the extent they challenge FERC's reparations order.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we affirm the decisions of the Commission and deny the petitions except as follows: As regards the West Line rates, we grant the petition and remand with respect to the Commission's decisions that the Watson enhancement and turbine fuel rates are grandfathered under the EPAct. We also remand with respect to the Commission's determination that changes in tax allowance policy constitute ''substantially changed circumstances'' under the Act. As regards the East Line rates, we reverse the Commission's decision to rely on Lakehead insofar as it pertains to tax allowances, and thus grant the petition and remand the Commission's determination regarding the proper tax allowance for SFPP. We also grant the petition and remand for the Commission to determine and explain an appropriate allocation of the civil litigation costs between the West Line and East Line shippers. Finally, we grant the petition and remand for the Commission to address SFPP's request to recover its reconditioning costs.

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