This framework falls apart when the two negotiating parties are affiliated, can saddle captive ratepayers with costs, and, in effect, are negotiating with themselves. FERC requires pipeline developers to demonstrate in an application that there is market need for a project and that its public benefits outweigh its adverse effects.Ĭompanies typically demonstrate market need based on a private system of contracting: two parties negotiate at arms-length for pipeline capacity to ensure a project is right-sized to address a legitimate, identified need. A rigorous review process is essential for these massive and expensive infrastructure projects which operate for decades and can impact local communities and the environment. The saga starts with how FERC reviews gas pipelines under the Natural Gas Act.
Spire’s blatant fear-driven public relations campaign hides the real issue that needs to be resolved: how did we get here and how can we ensure this never happens again? FERC, not the Supreme Court, is the right place to fix the Spire pipeline mess Click To Tweet Nor is anyone suggesting anything to the contrary should occur.
FERC has already approved the pipeline to operate through December and is poised to extend an authorization to operate through the winter season.
The simple fact is, there is no need or justification for the relief that Spire seeks. Intervention by the Supreme Court now, while FERC is already examining these questions, would undercut one of the agency’s core responsibilities. FERC also needs to determine the long-term fate of the pipeline, and it can’t move forward until the case is out of the courts. Circuit ruling, FERC has been diligently addressing the urgent question of whether the pipeline is needed for the upcoming winter season. Circuit court last year over serious concerns that the Spire pipeline certificate was granted without the legally-required justification that the pipeline was needed and beneficial to the public. While FERC’s initial orders authorizing the pipeline were deficient, it has the capability and tools to conduct a fulsome analysis and now has an opportunity to course correct.ĮDF filed suit at the D.C. And that’s where it should stay.įERC needs to proceed based on the law as properly administered by the commission and to address the complex facts that warrant the fact-finding review of an expert agency. The Spire mess started at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the federal agency designated and empowered by Congress to handle pipeline approvals. Not only should the Supreme Court not grant the stay, it shouldn’t even take up the case. Supreme Court to stay the vacatur decision and hand the company back its permission slip. Circuit court vacated Spire STL’s unlawful certificate to operate a 66-mile natural gas pipeline running between Illinois and Missouri in June, Spire last week asked the U.S.
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