Gas Act, 2001 (Act No. 48 of 2001)RegulationsPiped Gas Regulations6. Third party access to transmission pipelines |
| (1) | Third party access to transmission lines that are not specifically provided for in the agreement are governed by this regulation. |
| (2) | The allocation mechanism to be used in order to ensure third party access to uncommitted capacity in transmission pipelines must comply with the following principles: |
| (a) | Use-it-or-lose-it taking into account diurnal and seasonal load profiles; |
| (b) | non-discrimination; |
| (c) | defined time periods; and |
| (d) | technical feasibility. |
| (3) | Where two or more applications for access to uncommitted capacity of transmission pipelines are received by the transmission pipeline licensee on the same date, priority must be allocated according to the most attractive application to the transmission pipeline licensee, taking into account such identifiable elements such as the proposed volumes, revenue generated and length of contract. |
| (4) | The Gas Regulator may upon receipt of a complaint, from a third party regarding a refusal for third party access to a transmission line, determine uncommitted capacity in the transmission pipeline and determine an allocation mechanism that is consistent with subregulation (2). |
| (5) | A transmission licensee must not discriminate between customers or classes of customers, particularly with regard to the granting of more favourable conditions to its related undertakings than to other customers or classes of customers. |
| (6) | A transmission licensee may not discriminate in respect of— |
| (a) | the manner, content and timing of the provision of any information that pertains to third party access to customers or prospective customers; |
| (b) | the manner and timing of processing of applications and granting of capacity; |
| (c) | the terms and conditions of any grant of capacity and any other service to be provided to any customer or prospective customer; |
| (d) | tariff methods and prices, including but not limited to the offering and granting of any discount and the imposing of any surcharge; |
| (e) | nominations and balancing of gas entering and exiting the system; and |
| (f) | scheduling of maintenance activities. |
| (7) | A transmission licensee interconnected to other systems must provide sufficient information to any other transmission licensee, storage licensee, distribution licensee or reticulator to ensure that the transport of gas may take place in a manner compatible with the secure and efficient operation of the interconnected system. |
| (8) | All parties in third party access negotiations and transactions must avoid any abuse of a dominant position and negotiations for access to the system must be in good faith. |
| (9) | A transmission licensee must preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information obtained in the course of carrying out its business and may not provide commercially sensitive information to a related undertaking. |
| (10) | The Gas Regulator may, at the request of one or more parties negotiate for third party access to gas transmission pipelines and after consultation with the parties concerned, fix a term within which the negotiations must be completed. |
| (11) | A transmission licensee must lodge with the Gas Regulator its guidelines for the use of the transmission system within the first year following implementation of these regulations. |
| (12) | The information contained in the guidelines referred to in subregulation (11) must be publicly available and be sufficient to enable potential customers to understand the procedure for obtaining access to a transmission pipeline, as well as to enter and conclude negotiations with the transmission licensee. |
| (13) | The guidelines contemplated in subregulation (11) must include— |
| (a) | a detailed description of the gas transmission system indicating all inlet and outlet points; |
| (b) | all ownership boundaries; |
| (c) | method by which the tariffs are calculated; |
| (d) | method by which a customer may request a tariff; |
| (e) | contractual terms and conditions regarding use and payment; |
| (f) | technical requirements for access to the network; and |
| (g) | the process to request access. |
| (14) | The Gas Regulator must, when determining the uncommitted capacity for transmission pipelines, consider the following elements: |
| (a) | contractual commitments of the transmission licensee; |
| (b) | variations in pipeline capacity from one segment to another; |
| (c) | potential to increase pipeline capacity by additional compression, linepacking, backhauling, parallel lines, peak storage facilities; |
| (d) | temperature and pressure differences; |
| (e) | load profile and swing requirements; |
| (f) | gas specifications; and |
| (g) | whether or not capacity allocations are being used to limit access to the transmission facilities. |