trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/FAfYUYQ_F5yjKA_mSw7MzQ2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Nebraska Supreme Court sides with regulator on Keystone XL route approval

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Nebraska Supreme Court sides with regulator on Keystone XL route approval

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the Nebraska Public Service Commission's approval of a route that the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline could take through the state.

In its Aug. 23 decision, the state supreme court said there was enough evidence to support the Public Service Commission's approval of one of the proposed routes as being in the public interest. Project developer TC Energy Corp. had submitted three possible routes for the state commission's consideration, and the commission in November 2017 greenlit an alternative route that avoided the Nebraska Sandhills, which is designated as an ecologically important region by the state's Department of Environmental Quality.

The commission had emphasized that its approval was only for the mainline alternative route, and that it was not a decision on whether the pipeline project should be built.

Among other arguments on appeal, parties including the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club had challenged the commission's jurisdiction over TC Energy's application and had questioned whether the commission properly considered the alternative route. The Nebraska Supreme Court found that the commission did have jurisdiction and that TC Energy had proved the alternative route was in the public interest. (Nebraska Supreme Court docket 303 Neb. 872)

TC Energy welcomed the court's decision. "The Supreme Court decision is another important step as we advance towards building this vital energy infrastructure project," President and CEO Russ Girling said in an Aug. 23 release.

Analysts at Clearview Energy Partners LLC viewed the development as "the absence of a negative that could have precluded construction restarting next spring." However, the project must still overcome other legal issues and regulatory hurdles, the analysts said.

The section of the Keystone XL pipeline involved in the case would help deliver as much as 830,000 barrels per day of mostly oil sands-derived crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Neb. Following years of regulatory trouble and also wins that included the re-issuance of a key permit by U.S. President Donald Trump, TC Energy said the pipeline will not be built this year.