FERC greenlights pipeline projects

FERC voted to approve a permit for a 32 mile natural gas pipeline that would help fuel proposed gas-fired generation at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland Fossil Plant. The commission also approved a Texas-to-Louisiana project by Williams Cos., which aims to expand an existing pipeline and boost gas flow to the Gulf Coast.

Both decisions saw FERC’s two Democrats diverge. Acting Chair Willie Phillips voted in favour of all pipeline certificates, while Commissioner Allison Clements dissented in part on the pipeline for TVA and in full on the Williams project. Commissioner Mark Christie, FERC’s lone Republican, voted the same as Phillips on the two projects and other commission business.

The outcome showed that the commission’s two Democrats aren’t bound to align on every vote as two FERC seats remain vacant. And it reinforced the continuing tussle over natural gas in major US infrastructure projects.

While proponents say gas has helped slash power plant emissions, many environmental groups are calling on the U.S. to phase out fossil fuels — and not lock in new developments that could be in place for decades. TVA, in particular, has been under pressure to speed up plans to lower emissions as President Joe Biden seeks a carbon-free US power grid by 2035.

The electric utility’s desired pipeline is part of a larger natural gas build-out. TVA has warned that if the pipeline were not built, it may have to keep some coal-fired generation online past its planned retirement date.

“The proposed pipeline is crucial for staying on track with our plans to retire the first [coal-fired] unit at Cumberland Fossil Plant and replace that generation with a combined cycle gas plant,” TVA spokesperson Elizabeth Gibson said in an email Thursday 18 January, 2024.

The public power provider, which serves Tennessee and parts of six neighbouring states, “welcomes FERC’s decision,” Gibson said.

Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline plans to build the pipeline.

Kinder Morgan spokesperson Vicky Oddi said in an email that the company is “pleased with the Commission’s approval of the Cumberland Project certificate order at today’s meeting.”

The Southern Environmental Law Centre has two lawsuits challenging the plant that are currently pending in federal court, the group said in its statement.

Clements issued a separate full dissent on FERC’s decision to green-light the Williams’ Texas-to-Louisiana Energy Pathway project. It would add 364 400 dekatherms per day of capacity – a measure of heat – to its existing 10 200 mile Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line system, which serves more than a dozen states from the Southeast to New York City.

Williams Cos. said in a statement to E&E News that FERC’s approval for the project “represents an important milestone” for “a critical project that will support reliability and diversification of energy infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/23012024/ferc-greenlights-pipeline-projects/