May 2021, Vol. 248, No. 5
Projects
PennEast Expects First Phase of Gas Pipeline in Service Next Year
PennEast Pipeline still expects to put the first phase of its $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline project in Pennsylvania in service in 2022 and complete the second phase from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in 2024.
The pipeline is involved in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court with New Jersey over whether the company can seize state-owned or controlled land under federal eminent domain rules.
On a positive note for PennEast, the Biden administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court that agreed with a filing by the Trump administration urging the court to overturn a 2019 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. That ruling blocked PennEast from using federal eminent domain to seize state land.
“PennEast appreciates the continued support of the United States, which underscores that this case presents an issue that cuts across party lines,” the company said in a statement.
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved PennEast’s request to build the pipeline in January 2018. The company had hoped to complete the project in 2019.
PennEast needs the New Jersey land to build its 120-mile (193-km) pipeline, which is designed to deliver 1.1 Bcf/d (31 MMcm/d) of gas from the Marcellus shale formation in Pennsylvania to customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The PennEast partners include units of South Jersey Industries Inc., New Jersey Resources Corp., Southern Co., Enbridge Inc. and UGI Corp.
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