Mark R. Haskell, Brett A. Snyder, and Lamiya N. Rahman
On February 21, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “the Commission”) issued an order authorizing Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, LLC (“Calcasieu Pass”) to site, construct, and operate a new liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) terminal and associated facilities (the “Export Terminal”) pursuant to section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”).1 The Certificate Order also authorized TransCameron Pipeline, LLC (“TransCameron”) to construct and operate a new interstate pipeline under NGA section 7. Although the Certificate Order drew favorable conclusions in its environmental review of the projects, a concurrence by Commissioner LaFleur and a dissent by Commissioner Glick signaled growing dissatisfaction among half of the current Commission with respect to FERC’s practice of evaluating a project’s greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions.
The Certificate Order
The Export Terminal, to be located along the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, will have a nameplate capacity of 10 million metric tons per annum (“MTPA”) and a peak capacity of 12 MTPA under optimal operating conditions. Natural gas will be delivered to the Export Terminal by TransCameron’s proposed 23.4-mile, 42-inch diameter interstate pipeline, which will extend from the Grand Chenier Station in Cameron Parish, Louisiana to the Export Terminal and will be able to provide up to 2,125,000 dekatherms per day (“Dth/d”) of natural gas transportation service. Continue reading “FERC Commissioners Approve the Venture Global Calcasieu Pass LNG Export Project but Signal Divisions in Approaches to Evaluating GHG Emissions”