Seeking to stave off a shutdown of the Southeast Market Pipelines natural gas transportation project that could otherwise happen this week, pipeline companies urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to quickly issue a final environmental report and reissue authorizations for the projects.
The request came after the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit on Jan. 31 held to an earlier decision to vacate the certificate orders for the projects, denying the commission's request that the court instead remand the orders to the commission. The court on August 22, 2017, had sided with environmental groups in finding FERC's environmental review did not contain enough information on greenhouse gas emissions from the downstream power plants the pipelines would serve.
The case involves a major, three-piece pipeline project stretching over 685 miles in Florida, Georgia and Alabama that includes the Enbridge Inc.-led, 515-mile, 1-Bcf/d Sabal Trail pipeline; Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLCs 44-mile Hillabee expansion; and NextEra Energy Inc.'s 126-mile Florida Southeast Connection project.
Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, Florida Southeast Connection LLC and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC in a filing late on Feb. 2 proffered an alternative under which FERC could issue temporary emergency certificates to allow companies to continue flowing gas until FERC completes a new order on remand. The companies included an application for such temporary certificates.
In making the case that emergency certificates were a viable option, the pipeline companies said the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld FERC authority to issue temporary certificates "during emergencies to prevent disruptions or delays in jurisdictional service while a certificate application is pending."
FERC has already issued a supplemental draft environmental impact statement adding estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, and the commission received comments on that approach, prompting some observers to anticipate the agency could promptly avert a pipeline shutdown by quickly issuing a final supplemental environmental impact statement and the certificate orders.
Absent a stay of the D.C. Circuit's mandate, or further action by FERC on Feb. 7, the pipeline companies argued they would "be forced to shut off all gas supplies flowing through their respective facilities in the captioned dockets."
The companies warned of significant reliability risks, saying one of Sabal Trail's anchor shippers relies in part on gas from the project to fuel its Martin power plant in Martin County, Fla., and its Riviera Beach power plant in Palm Beach County, Fla. Another shipper, Duke Energy Florida LLC, will need the supplies to place a new gas-fired plant in Citrus County into service on time, they said. The companies also cited likely financial harm.
The companies asked FERC to act by Feb. 6, one day before the scheduled issuance of a court order that would implement the Aug. 22 order.
FERC in October had asked the three-judge panel that decided the case to remand the decision to the agency, saying FERC had already begun complying with the court order by publishing a draft supplemental environmental review that estimated downstream emissions.
Maya Weber is a reporter for S&P Global Platts, which like S&P Global Market Intelligence, is owned by S&P Global Inc.
