Latest news with #NaturalGasAct
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
National Grid, Con Edison, other utilities urge FERC to consider gas pipeline reliability measures
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. A group of electric and gas utilities on Friday urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to launch an inquiry to consider options for improving gas pipeline reliability. Increased demand and extreme weather in the last decade have stressed the interstate gas transportation and storage system and reduced pipeline companies' operational flexibility, according to a filing at FERC by four National Grid utilities — Boston Gas, Brooklyn Union Gas, KeySpan Gas East and Niagara Mohawk Power — along with Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, Orange & Rockland Utilities and Washington Gas Light. 'The challenges facing interstate pipelines, and other parts of the natural gas value chain, continue to intensify warranting greater regulatory involvement and standardization of practices,' the utilities said. Under its Natural Gas Act authority, FERC could consider the following, the utilities suggest: Requiring interstate pipelines to submit annual reports on reliability metrics. Requiring pipeline owners to consider whether facilities they plan to replace or retire may still offer reliability benefits to customers as redundant facilities. Revisiting its policy regarding pipeline force majeure and reservation charge crediting provisions to rebalance risk-sharing between pipelines and their customers and create incentives for pipeline reliability. Additional enhanced communication protocols for extreme weather events, greater standardization of pipeline scheduling and confirmation practices, and other mechanisms to make sure customers that pay for firm service are receiving full contractual value in exchange for their financial commitments. FERC and state utility regulators are set to meet on Wednesday to discuss gas-electric coordination and gas storage. Speakers at the Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative meeting include Jim Robb, North American Electric Reliability Corp president and CEO; Gordon van Welie, ISO New England president and CEO; and Paul Cicio, Industrial Energy Consumers of America president and CEO.
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Environmental groups lose court challenge to Alaska LNG exports
April 15 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a challenge by environmental groups to a decision by Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration approving exports from a planned $39 billion liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held the U.S. Department of Energy's conclusion, opens new tab that it would be impossible to quantify the project's contribution to climate-changing greenhouse gases did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act. The project by the Alaska Gasline Development Corp calls for developing a $44 billion 800-mile (1,300-km) pipeline to move gas stranded in Alaska's remote north across the state before being shipped overseas. The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity had argued the Energy Department's approval of the project violated the law by overstating the uncertainty of its impact on climate change while ignoring that its claimed economic benefits were themselves speculative. U.S. Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph, writing for the panel, said that Congress in adopting the Natural Gas Act had "expressed a preference for permitting exports, so long as our nation has an abundance of this natural resource, as it does." Randolph, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, said the plaintiffs' objection to the project was "not well-founded" and that "overwhelming evidence" produced by the agency supported finding the impact LNG exports would have on climate change were too uncertain to quantify. "In short, the impacts of downstream emissions in foreign countries are not reasonably foreseeable and so any alleged failure to quantify those impacts does not amount to a violation of NEPA," Randolph wrote. His opinion was joined by U.S. Circuit Judges Justin Walker, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, and Brad Garcia, a Biden appointee. "Obviously, we're very pleased with the result," said Howard Nelson, a lawyer with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp at Greenberg Traurig. He said the project had been thoroughly vetted by the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over the last decade. A spokesperson for Earthjustice, which represented the environmental groups, said it was disappointed and evaluating the decision. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. In 2020, toward the tail end of Trump's first term in office, the Energy Department granted approval for LNG exports to countries with which the United States did not have a free trade agreement. The Energy Department under Biden, at the behest of the environmental group Sierra Club, agreed to conduct new environmental review studies but ultimately reaffirmed the approval of exports in April 2023. The Energy Department concluded that exports would likely create jobs in the fields of natural gas development, production and transportation, help lower natural gas prices in the state and boost the national gross domestic product. The project continues to have Trump's backing now that he is back in office. Last month, Alaska's governor and state representatives visited Japan and three other Asian countries to court investors for the project. The case is Sierra Club v U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 20-1503. For the environmental groups: Moneen Nasmith of Earthjustice For the Energy Department: John Smeltzer of the U.S. Department of Justice For the Alaska Gas Development Corp: Howard Nelson of Greenberg Traurig Read more: US appeals court likely to reject challenge to Alaska LNG exports Youth climate-change lawsuit targets Alaska LNG project Alaska LNG project clears legal challenge over environmental harms
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump DOE reduces regulations for using liquified natural gas as marine fuel
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday allowed the use of liquified natural gas as marine fuel, reducing regulations on LNG to power boats, something approved by the Biden administration. It does away with an oversight order issued to Florida-based JAX LNG by the Biden administration. "Today's action is a significant step in reducing regulatory burdens and helping this important segment of the LNG market continue to grow," said Tala Goudarzi of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management in a statement. The Biden administration regulation rolled back by Friday's DOE action gave DOE authority to regulate LNG bunkering. Bunkering is storing LNG on ships, then transferring the fuel at sea. The DOE statement Friday said, "The modified order clarifies that DOE is withdrawing the exercise of its jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act for ship-to-ship transfers of LNG for marine fuel use at a U.S. port, in U.S. waters, or in international waters." President Donald Trump solicited $1 billion from fossil fuel executives for his 2024 campaign, promising them he would roll back fossil fuel regulations if they contributed. That prompted Senate Democrats to launch an inquiry to determine whether or not Trump's promise to Big Oil was an illegal quid pro quo. The LNG action is just one small part of an effort by Trump to reverse climate actions to limit fossil fuel emissions. Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law's Climate Tracker documents 45 Trump administration actions in its first two months in office to reverse federal climate change mitigation efforts. This LNG marine fuel regulation rollback is consistent with the overall Trump "drill, baby drill" policy of boosting fossil fuel while denying climate change. Those policies range from withdrawing from the Paris Climate accords, cutting more than 1,000 employees from the Environmental Protection Administration to pausing EV by freezing $3 billion in funding for expanding charging stations nationwide. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright is a Big Oil executive with no prior government experience. According to records, Wright donated money to Trump's presidential campaigns. The League of Conservation Voters called Wright a "climate-denying Big Oil executive." The LCV said in Nov. 2024 that with Wright's nomination, "Trump is following through on the $1 billion offer he made to Big Oil at a dinner this spring."
