News

Hello All,

Sadie here.  Happy Day-After-Hump-Day!

Well, I was asked to make this week’s column about TSAs.  I have to tell you, I think the TSA people are just the nicest…and they are doing a very important job.  I never give them attitude. When they make me take my (adorable!) shoes off, I don’t complain.  And when they make me step into that phone-boothy-thingy and hold my arms up in the air…I think of that as my travel wave.

Anyhoo, bring on the questions about TSAs!

  Sadie

Confused in Calgary - Creating TSAs

Dear Sadie,
I find these TSAs confusing.  When should I create one and when should I not?
Signed,
Confused in Calgary

Dear Confused,
Is my face ever red, honey!  I thought we were talking about the Transportation Security Administration, but after reading your question and doing a little research, I realize you’re asking about “Transportation Service Agreements”! Well, I still got ya covered!

TSAs are the means by which gas can enter or leave CGT at the various interconnects.  The codes supplied by the interconnecting pipelines represent either the Source ID (on-system) or the Destination ID (off-system) of the gas.  These TSAs are what CGT uses to confirm nominations when communicating with those pipes.

If you want to see whether a TSA already exists in INSIDEtracc or what the start/end date is, simply use the Query TSA screen and search for it.  If the TSA doesn’t already exist, it can be added using the Create TSA screen OR it can be created on-the-fly using the manual input screen or the import option.

If you add the TSA via the Create TSA screen, you can set the start and end date to whatever you want.  If the TSA is created on-the-fly, then INSIDEtracc automatically sets the start date to current and the end date to 2019.

If you like to create your TSAs on-the-fly and you import your nominations using a spreadsheet, simply put a “Y” in the Create Source TSA column (if bringing gas on) or the Create Dest TSA column (if taking gas off). You can find the INSIDEtracc Nomination Form on Pipe Ranger.  If you enter your nominations manually using the Manual Input screen, then you would put a check in the Create Srce TSA checkbox (if bringing gas on) or the Create Dest TSA checkbox (if taking gas off).

Puzzled in Pearland - Invalid Contract Error

Dear Sadie,
I've been using this TSA forever and all of a sudden, when I went to use it today, I got an invalid contract error.  What gives?
Signed,
Puzzled in Pearland

Dear Puzzled,
Easy peasy!  It sounds like your TSA expired.  If this happens, please call the CGT Helpline and we can extend it for you.

Flummoxed in Friendswood - Entered Incorrect TSA

Dear Sadie,
I got cut on ID1 Schedule because I fat-fingered the TSA.  How can I fix this?
Signed,
Flummoxed in Friendswood

Dear Flummoxed,
It’s important to make sure the TSA you’ve entered for the nomination in INSIDEtracc matches exactly the nomination that was entered on the interconnecting pipeline’s EBB.  If you mistakenly “fat finger” it, e.g., add an extra digit, mistype a letter or digit, etc., such that the noms don’t match, then the upstream pipeline will schedule zero.

You’ll need to fix this for the next cycle by taking the bad nom to zero and entering a new nom with the correct TSA.  This can be extremely costly if CGT happens to be experiencing reduced capacity due to maintenance since it might mean losing your space on the pipe.

Dazed in Dayton - Non-matched Nom

Dear Sadie,
My nom at the border didn’t flow and the cut message said it was because the nom wasn’t matched. What’s going on?
Signed,
Dazed in Dayton 

Dear Dazed,
Because CGT views TSAs as belonging to the interconnecting pipeline and not a specific customer or company, you should ALWAYS make yourself BOTH the buyer and the seller on the nomination. Otherwise, if the buyer code and seller code are different, INSIDEtracc sees it as a two-party nom without a counterparty’s matching nomination and will not confirm the gas.

Wrapping Up...

I hope these answers have been helpful! If you have any more questions about TSAs, please let us know. Or if you have any other questions about anything, let us know that as well!

Catch ya on the next nom cycle and be safe!
   Sadie

(P.S. Keep being nice to those TSAs at the airports too!)