Abstract
A theme that runs through the long, convoluted history of natural gas regulation is the seemingly inexorable expansion of government intervention. Regulation has spawned further regulation; soon after one regulatory gap was filled, another appeared. Municipal franchising and price regulation of gas distributors led to state oversight of intrastate gas transmission, which prompted federal regulation of interstate transmission, followed by control of interstate affiliated field prices and later interstate independent field prices. Finally, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA) extended federal jurisdiction to all intrastate field sales.
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