The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of several ABRA member organizations, filed on June 21 a motion asking that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hold a hearing on the legitimacy of Dominion and Duke Energy’s natural gas demand claims as a basis for building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
The motion requests FERC to hold a hearing to ensure consumers and landowners are protected from an unnecessary pipeline and resolve the following disputed issues:
- Agreements between Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC and its own affiliates are insufficient evidence that there is a growing demand for natural gas.
- New forecasts from the Energy Information Administration and the regional grid manager show no growth in demand for natural gas needs in Virginia and North Carolina through 2030.
- Already existing and planned pipeline capacity in the region is adequate to meet any demand that does exist.
SELC’s request was filed on behalf of Shenandoah Valley Network, Highlanders for Responsible Development, Virginia Wilderness Committee, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Cowpasture River Preservation Association, Friends of Buckingham, and Winyah Rivers Foundation.
Readers of ABRA Update are urged to file a letter in support of the motion for an evidentiary hearing. Refer to the SELC filing as a “motion for an evidentiary hearing filed on June 21, 2017 by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Conservation Groups.” It was filed under Docket Nos CP15-554-000, CP15-554-001 and CP15-555-000. Commenters also may wish to attach the SELC motion and/or provide their own reasons on why the request is worthy of being granted. For further assistance in filing comments, consult this link.