E&E News summarized a federal court ruling concerning the review and approval of pipeline projects, quoting AEE’s Jeff Dennis. Read snippets below and the full article here.

A federal court ruling yesterday could influence how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews and approves pipelines, with major implications for the gas industry and legal cases around the country, analysts say.

The fate of the operational pipeline is now in the hands of the agency. Analysts said the ruling could influence FERC's ongoing review of its Certificate Policy Statement, which dictates the process for determining whether a proposed pipeline is in the public interest and should therefore be approved. FERC Chairman Richard Glick reopened the review this year but has not indicated when it will end.

In a statement, FERC said it is reviewing the decision to determine what actions "may be appropriate."

The current policy statement says that FERC will scrutinize "all relevant factors" when considering proposed pipeline projects. But environmental groups, industry representatives and commissioners themselves acknowledge that the existence of precedent agreements has historically been viewed by the commission as a proxy for pipeline need.

"[The] fact that the court so swiftly knocked down the Commission's reliance on an affiliate precedent agreement to demonstrate market need here will undoubtedly factor into FERC's broader reexamination of the Certificate Policy Statement," Jeff Dennis, general counsel and managing director of Advanced Energy Economy, a clean energy trade group, said in an email.

Read the full article here.