Weeks after a federal court threw out regulatory approval for a natural gas pipeline expansion, the project’s developer is warning of a “catastrophic” winter of gas shortages and price spikes in the Northeast unless the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives it temporary permission to keep the pipeline running.
Regional Energy Access operator Transco, a subsidiary of Williams, argues that the expanded pipeline is already in service and a court-ordered shutdown could imperil customers counting on gas this winter from a pipeline that can now carry enough gas to heat more than 10 million homes.
“The facilities’ removal from service would have devastating consequences for consumers along the eastern seaboard of the United States this winter, with particularly severe repercussions in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware,” Transco said in a FERC filing Friday. In the filing, the company warned of “dramatic energy shortages” and “escalated energy costs.”
In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with New Jersey officials and environmentalists that argued the expansion project would make the state’s climate change goals impossible to meet.
