Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) must prioritize propane shipments on a pipeline to the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, where cold weather has caused heating-fuel prices to climb, federal regulators ordered in the first use of their emergency powers. The one-week directive issued late yesterday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is effective immediately and applies to the Enterprise TE Products Pipeline system, which originates in Mont Belvieu, Texas . The agency cited its authority under the U.S. Interstate Commerce Act. Propane in the Midwest soared to a record premium over prices on the Gulf Coast last month as a polar vortex swept across the eastern U.S., dumping snow and ice and causing temperatures to plummet to record lows in cities from New York to Florida . Supplies of the heating fuel in the Midwest tumbled to the lowest seasonal level since at least 1994. “Clearly, it shows that the […]