EEIA Continues To Press White House On U.S. Energy Development

As Connecting the Dots previously reported, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has required that natural gas pipeline developers estimate and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that would result from upstream production or downstream use of the natural gas flowing through pipelines.

This requirement could give FERC the ability to arbitrarily deny pipeline project approvals on political or ideological grounds, but, according to the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA), it is not the only issue that could diminish U.S. energy development.

EEIA, which MSCI is a member of, also is concerned that FERC and the U.S. Department of Energy are sitting on numerous applications for development of U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals and pipelines (and their related export licenses) and the fact that FERC’s new GHG rules would retroactively apply to those applications.

With the crisis in the Ukraine, Europe is trying to fill its energy void by importing more LNG from the United States, but countries are finding that there is little available since U.S. export terminals already are operating at capacity. Several proposed U.S. LNG export projects that would add significant capacity are stalled at the FERC and Department of Energy.

Last week, the CEOs of four major pipeline operators jointly sent a letter to FERC urging immediate action on pending applications. The letter was timed to arrive with a Senate hearing on the FERC rules chaired by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Sen. Manchin’s opening statement, available here, was a powerful statement about the critical importance of U.S. natural gas resources and the risks FERC’s new GHG rules impose on U.S. security during a time of exceptional vulnerability.

EEIA has communicated its concerns and recommendations to the Biden administration and has asked for immediate action to encourage FERC’s facilitation of new LNG export facilities and pipelines.