Regulators in the US on Thursday gave the green light to a controversial natural gas pipeline expansion that ships natural gas from Alberta to California.The 2,200-kilometre GTN XPress, owned 100% by Calgary-based TC Energy, will expand capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline through Idaho, Washington and Oregon by a nominal amount of about 150 million cubic feet per day.TC Energy — formerly TransCanada — plans to modify three compressor stations along the route in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon before connecting into the California gathering system via Kingsgate, BC. It has been in service since 1962.TC said it is needed to ensure “reliable energy to communities in the Western US in a safe and responsible manner, supplementing renewable energy as required.”But the attorneys general from Washington, Oregon and California all called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject it on the grounds it would undermine their respective state’s efforts to reduce emissions and combat climate change..GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon and Washington are moving away from fossil fuelsUS Senators.In a joint letter to the agency in July, which delayed the final vote, senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington — all Democrats — described the expansion as “incompatible with our climate laws.”“GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels,” they said.The states had argued the expansion would result in 3.5 million tonnes of additional emissions over the next three decades but the FERC revised that figure down by half. The agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips, reiterated the FERC’s view after Thursday’s vote.“There was no evidence presented that this project would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters. “The commission determined that this project was needed and therefore we support its approval.”TC filed its initial application in October, 2021.Environmentalists — who stressed TC as the “foreign” backer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline — immediately vowed to appeal the reading.“FERC failed to listen to Senators, Governors, State Attorneys General, Tribes and the public in its rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas in the Northwest,” Audrey Leonard, an attorney for environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper, said in a statement.
Regulators in the US on Thursday gave the green light to a controversial natural gas pipeline expansion that ships natural gas from Alberta to California.The 2,200-kilometre GTN XPress, owned 100% by Calgary-based TC Energy, will expand capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline through Idaho, Washington and Oregon by a nominal amount of about 150 million cubic feet per day.TC Energy — formerly TransCanada — plans to modify three compressor stations along the route in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon before connecting into the California gathering system via Kingsgate, BC. It has been in service since 1962.TC said it is needed to ensure “reliable energy to communities in the Western US in a safe and responsible manner, supplementing renewable energy as required.”But the attorneys general from Washington, Oregon and California all called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject it on the grounds it would undermine their respective state’s efforts to reduce emissions and combat climate change..GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon and Washington are moving away from fossil fuelsUS Senators.In a joint letter to the agency in July, which delayed the final vote, senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington — all Democrats — described the expansion as “incompatible with our climate laws.”“GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels,” they said.The states had argued the expansion would result in 3.5 million tonnes of additional emissions over the next three decades but the FERC revised that figure down by half. The agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips, reiterated the FERC’s view after Thursday’s vote.“There was no evidence presented that this project would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters. “The commission determined that this project was needed and therefore we support its approval.”TC filed its initial application in October, 2021.Environmentalists — who stressed TC as the “foreign” backer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline — immediately vowed to appeal the reading.“FERC failed to listen to Senators, Governors, State Attorneys General, Tribes and the public in its rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas in the Northwest,” Audrey Leonard, an attorney for environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper, said in a statement.
