Company Will Shut Down Pipeline Due To Hold Ups From State

As The Hill reported last week, PennEast announced it will cease development of a pipeline that was meant to bring natural gas to New Jersey from Pennsylvania because the state of New Jersey has been slow to approve the necessary permits.

Spokesperson Pat Kornick said, “PennEast received a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] to construct the proposed pipeline and obtained some required permits,” but had not received “a water quality certification and other wetlands permits under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for the New Jersey portion of the project.”

The company will shut down its operations as a result. As a reminder, in June 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the pipeline could sue the state of New Jersey to seize land from the state.

As The Hill noted, this is not the first pipeline project in recent months to stop construction despite getting a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, and approval from the FERC. In 2020, companies behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline called off development because of issues with the state over permitting.

According to a study by Concentric Energy Advisors, the PennEast Pipeline could have saved New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania families and businesses more than $1.3 billion in lower energy costs over two years.