The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reissued authorizations for the up to 1.1-Bcf/d, 515-mile Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline and other parts of the giant Southeast Market Pipelines project in a decision that divided the commission over how FERC should assess greenhouse gas emissions and how the emissions should be linked to gas transportation infrastructure.
FERC issued the certificate order late on March 14, following an August 2017 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that had vacated and remanded FERC's original authorizations for a lack of analysis of greenhouse emissions from Florida power plants at the downstream end of the pipeline system.
The decision by a FERC majority comprising Chairman Kevin McIntyre and commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson provided additional detail as the court required. Still, the decision hewed closely to the commission's traditional position that the "vast majority of the lifecycle [greenhouse gas] emissions associated with the natural gas delivery chain are a result of the end use of the natural gas," rather than the pipeline, and that calculating an individual contribution to climate change in any meaningful way is impossible.
The majority said it is up to Congress or the executive branch to decide national policy on the use of gas, and that "the commission's job is to review applications before it on a case-by-case basis."
Environmental groups and others have asked FERC to use a social cost of carbon tool, which attempts to put a dollar figure on climate change damage linked to increases in CO2 emissions. The FERC majority said the "tool cannot meaningfully inform the commission's decisions on natural gas transportation infrastructure projects under the [Natural Gas Act]," in large part because it would require the commission to calculate emissions from remote and indirect upstream and downstream activities over which the commission has no jurisdiction. The commission said it would monitor climate science and models to inform its decisions.
Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur dissented in part and Commissioner Richard Glick dissented in separate statements. They at least partly agreed with pipeline opponents such as the Sierra Club that the commission should do more to calculate how much climate impact comes from each piece of fossil fuel infrastructure that the commission reviews.
"I believe the commission needs to utilize the social cost of carbon to inform about the environmental impacts of our decision," Glick said in the March 15 commissioner meeting. "I can't understand why we would not want to ensure that both the public and this agency has the information that adequately assesses what the potential benefits and potential adverse impacts of those pipelines [are] before issuing a certificate."
Glick also said he was "concerned" that the D.C. Circuit will again vacate FERC's authorization of the project and remand it back to the commission.
The Southeast Market Pipelines project consists of the Enbridge Inc.-led $3.2 billion Sabal Trail pipeline, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC's $459.8 million Hillabee expansion and NextEra Energy Inc.'s $537.3 million Florida Southeast Connection. The early stages of the pipeline system, which runs from Alabama to central Florida, are already in service. Since the August 2017 court decision, FERC has moved quickly to obey the D.C. Circuit's instructions for a supplemental environmental review and to stave off the possibility of a court-ordered shutdown before the commission could reissue the project authorizations. (FERC dockets CP14-554, CP15-16, CP15-17)
S&P Global Market Intelligence reporter Ximena Mosqueda-Fernandez contributed to this article.
