William O. Douglas

“ Consumer protection is afforded by keeping the 'in-line' price at the level where substantial amounts of gas have been certificated to enter the market under other contemporaneous certificates, no onger subject to judicial review or in any way 'suspect.' We believe the Commission can properly conclude under § 7 that adequate protection to the public interest requires as an interim measure that gas not enter the interstate market at prices higher than existing levels. ”

“ An agency, like a court, can undo what is wrongfully done by virtue of its order. Under these circumstances, the Commission could properly conclude that the public interest required the producers to make refunds [4] for the period in which they sold their gas at prices exceeding those properly determined to be in the public interest.
We think that the Commission could properly measure the refund by the difference between the rates charged and the 'in-line' rates to which the original certificates should have been conditioned. ”

“ The fixing of an initial 'in-line' price establishes a firm price at which a producer may operate, pending determination of a just and reasonable rate, without any contingent obligation to make refunds should a just and reasonable rate turn out to be lower than the 'in-line' price. ”