panel ruled FERC should have better assessed the risk of significant greenhouse gas emissions and how Williams (WMB)
Tulsa’s Williams Cos. suffered a legal setback in its $1 billion project to provide more natural gas in five mid-Atlantic states where it planned to serve 3 million customers.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday voided Williams’ Regional Energy Access expansion project after it had been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The project had been challenged by six environmental groups and eight U.S. states who claimed FERC’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Reuters reported Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs wrote for a three-judge panel, whose members were judicially appointed by Democratic presidents, that FERC should have better assessed the risk of significant greenhouse gas emissions, and how the Williams unit might reduce them.
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The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has voided the Federal Regulatory Commission’s “arbitrary and capricious” approval of Williams’ (NYSE:WMB) Regional Energy Access expansion project running through five mid-Atlantic states and intended to serve 3M customers, Reuters reported Tuesday. panel ruled FERC should have better assessed the risk of significant greenhouse gas emissions and how Williams (WMB) might reduce them, and said the agency did not properly consider the public interest, citing its failure to adequately review New Jersey laws designed to advance the state’s clean energy goals, and whether the state needed more capacity.
Williams (WMB) said it will address the court’s concerns, and that the decision will not delay full implementation of the project, which will help provide “much-needed access to clean and reliable natural gas for consumers in the Northeast.”
The environmental groups including the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the Sierra Club that had filed a lawsuit to stop the project had viewed FERC’s approval as a rubber stamp.
might reduce them, and said the agency did not properly consider the public interest, citing its failure to adequately review New Jersey laws designed to advance the state’s clean energy goals, and whether the state needed more capacity.
Williams (WMB) said it will address the court’s concerns, and that the decision will not delay full implementation of the project, which will help provide “much-needed access to clean and reliable natural gas for consumers in the Northeast.”
The environmental groups including the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the Sierra Club that had filed a lawsuit to stop the project had viewed FERC’s approval as a rubber stamp.