The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a proposed Florida Southeast Connection LLC lateral that will deliver up to 400,000 Dth/d of natural gas from the Southeast Market Pipelines system to a Florida power plant.
The commission issued a certificate order May 30 for Florida Southeast's Okeechobee lateral project in Okeechobee County, Fla. The NextEra Energy Inc. subsidiary's $30.1 million project is designed to provide firm transportation service to the 1,778-MW Okeechobee Clean Energy Center. Commissioner Richard Glick dissented in part.
The commission's two Democratic members, Glick and Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, protested the commission's decision not to do more analysis of downstream greenhouse gas emissions, an issue that brought down the original approvals for the Southeast Market Pipelines project in a court challenge.
In the order, FERC said the Okeechobee project must be ready for service by May 30, 2020. In 2017, Florida Southeast anticipated beginning construction in early 2018. The company requested expedited approval in September 2017. The project consists of 5.2 miles of 20-inch-diameter transmission pipeline, which starts at the Florida Southeast mainline and terminates at the power plant.
Florida Power & Light Co., an affiliate of Florida Southeast, said it expects to place the plant in service in mid-2019. Construction of the plant began in early 2017, and Florida Power & Light said it will need test gas by Sept. 1. Florida Power & Light will be the sole customer for the project.
In approving the project, FERC denied a protest by the Sierra Club, which objected to both the project's customer and the pipeline that would support the lateral. The environmental group also said the power plant, with its associated greenhouse gas emissions, is dependent on the lateral. The commission disagreed. "Florida Power & Light has received all approvals for the Okeechobee Clean Energy Center and is moving ahead with construction," the commission said.
The commission also said the project developer demonstrated a market need for the lateral. "The mere fact that Florida Power & Light is an affiliate of Florida Southeast does not call into question the need for the project or otherwise diminish the showing of market support," FERC said.
In his partial dissent, Glick criticized the commission's conclusion that precedent agreements between affiliated companies are enough to demonstrate a need for a pipeline project. "Instead ... the commission must look behind the precedent agreements and consider other indicia of need," he said.
Although LaFleur voted to approve the project, she and Glick wrote separate opinions. They both took issue with the position of the majority — Chairman Kevin McIntyre and commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson — that the commission cannot accurately measure the significance of downstream greenhouse gas emissions from an individual project.
"I reject the contention that the commission cannot ascribe significance to a given rate or volume of GHG emissions," LaFleur said. "It is our responsibility to use the best information we have, on a case-by-case basis, to make that determination." The commissioner said she believes that the lateral is in the public interest after weighing the need for the project against its environmental impacts. (FERC docket CP17-463)
LaFleur and Glick have called on FERC in other decisions and in public statements to more thoroughly analyze greenhouse gas emissions. The issue will be part of the commission's upcoming review of its guiding policy for approving pipeline projects.
