FERC Mulls Action on NY Denial for NatGas Pipeline

Posted by Joseph Keefe
Thursday, March 15, 2018
U.S. federal energy regulators gave themselves more time to decide whether to rehear their earlier order upholding New York's denial of a water permit for Williams Cos Inc's Constitution natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday rejected Constitution's request to overturn New York's denial of a water quality certification in January.
If FERC did not act, Williams rehearing request would have been deemed denied within 30 days from the date the request was made, which was Feb. 12.
Williams argued New York waived its authority under the Clean Water Act to decide on the water quality certification for Constitution by failing to act within a reasonable period of time.
That argument is similar to Millennium Pipeline's case against New York before FERC, which the federal regulator decided in the pipeline's favor.
Williams filed with FERC to build Constitution in 2013. FERC first approved construction of the project in 2014 and then again in 2016, conditional upon other approvals.
Williams filed for water quality certification with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in August 2013. The company withdrew and resubmitted that application twice, first in May 2014 and then again in April 2015, both times at the DEC's request.
In April 2016, the DEC denied Williams application, saying the company failed to provide sufficient information to determine whether the project would comply with the state's water quality standards.
Williams appealed that New York denial to a federal appeals court, but the court in August 2017 concluded it lacked jurisdiction and upheld the state's decision. The company petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in January to review the appeal court's ruling.
If built, the 125-mile (201-km) pipeline would transport 0.65 billion cubic feet per day of shale gas. New York uses on average about 3.6 bcfd of gas.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to fuel about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
When Williams proposed building Constitution in 2013, it estimated it would cost about $683 million and enter service in 2016. Delays, however, have boosted that estimate to as high as $875 million, according to upstate New York newspapers.
Williams said it would take about 10 to 12 months to build the pipeline after it receives the necessary approvals.

Constitution is owned by subsidiaries of Williams, Cabot Oil & Gas, Duke Energy and WGL Holdings.

Reporting by Scott DiSavino 

Categories: Contracts Energy Environmental Finance Government Update Legal LNG Logistics

Related Stories

Dutch Contractor Completes Malaysia’s Largest 'Rig-to-Reef' Decom Project

SBM Offshore’s Jaguar FPSO Enters Drydock in Singapore (Video)

EnQuest Picks Up Offshore Oil and Gas Block in Brunei

CNOOC Finds Oil and Gas in South China Sea

Seatrium Makes First Turnkey FPSO Delivery to Petrobras

EnQuest Acquires Harbour Energy’s Vietnamese Assets

Valeura Makes Progress with Multi-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Thailand's PTT to Buy LNG from Glenfarne's Alaska LNG Project

CDWE Wraps Up Pin Pile Installation Job for Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farm

Scarborough FPU's Topsides and Hull Come Together in Major Engineering Feat (Video)

Current News

PTTEP Acquires Southeast Asia’s Offshore Block from Chevron’s Hess Unit for $450M

Valeura Energy, PTTEP Partner Up on Gulf of Thailand Blocks

Sapura Scoops Over $118M for Chevron, PTTEP Subsea Ops off Thailand

Pandion Energy Divests Interests in Three Norwegian Assets to Inpex

China Starts Production at Major Oil Field in Bohai Sea

Dutch Contractor Completes Malaysia’s Largest 'Rig-to-Reef' Decom Project

China Rolls Out 17MW Floating Wind Turbine Prototype

SBM Offshore’s Jaguar FPSO Enters Drydock in Singapore (Video)

EnQuest Picks Up Offshore Oil and Gas Block in Brunei

CNOOC Finds Oil and Gas in South China Sea

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com