A pipeline opponent has already made use of a recent federal court decision that questioned whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should grant eminent domain to developers of natural gas transportation projects that have foreign customers.
In a Sept. 11 letter, the advocacy group Pipeline Safety Coalition cited the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision in asking FERC to make available in the public docket any export information related to a gas pipeline project in Pennsylvania and Delaware
The project is being developed by Adelphia Gateway LLC, a company formed by New Jersey Resources Corp.'s NJR Pipeline Co. The safety group asked for the developer's expected ratio of domestic deliveries versus export deliveries for fuels moved through the system, as well as domestic and foreign ports and delivery locations.
The group said FERC should make sure the data is available before any further proceedings in the project review.
"We base our request on the September 6, 2019, decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Oberlin v FERC, which decided FERC cannot find that a project will serve the public convenience and necessity unless it explains why relying on gas for export in order to show need is consistent with the Natural Gas Act and the Takings Clause of the Constitution," the Pipeline Safety Coalition wrote.
Adelphia Gateway said the project will connect to an under-served market in the greater Philadelphia region and "provide much-needed, low-cost natural gas." The company said the gas "is not intended for export."
In the D.C. Circuit case, the court found that FERC did not adequately explain why it determined that the 1.5-Bcf/d Nexus Gas Transmission LLC pipeline is in the public interest of the United States when the pipeline has Canadian as well as U.S. customers. The court sent the case back to FERC for the explanation, which is pending. A pipeline developer must prove a project is in the public interest to FERC in order to obtain a Natural Gas Act certificate, which not only authorizes the project but allows the developer to use the power of eminent domain to take land for the project in situations where the developer and a landowner cannot come to an agreement. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit docket 18-1248)
In January 2018, Adelphia filed an abbreviated application with FERC for the pipeline project, designed to carry Marcellus gas supplies to the Philadelphia area. The project will connect to both Texas Eastern Transmission LP and Columbia Gas Transmission LLC systems. The developer plans to acquire oil and gas pipeline facilities in Pennsylvania, build additional facilities in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and use the facilities for interstate gas transportation. The acquired facilities would come from Interstate Energy Co. LLC, a Talen Energy Corp. subsidiary.
In August 2018, the pipeline developer requested that FERC allow it to increase the design capacity of its Zone North A segment from 175,000 Dth/d to 250,000 Dth/d, and adjust its rates given the change. (FERC docket CP18-46)
