Biden admin slow-walking gas pipeline supported by labor unions that would expand energy access

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation's top energy regulator, has repeatedly delayed approving a large natural gas expansion project in the Pacific Northwest backed by lawmakers and local labor unions.

The Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTNXP) — which would upgrade three existing compressor stations, increasing capacity, on an existing system that has transported natural gas for decades — was first proposed by its developer TC Energy in October 2021. FERC then issued an analysis one year later, determining the project would have limited adverse impacts on the environment, but has since stalled handing final approval.

"The GTN XPress project will play a critical role in offsetting rising energy prices and supporting renewable electricity development in the Pacific Northwest," a TC Energy spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

"The project has strong regional backing, as evidenced by the long-term agreements entered into by local utilities and support expressed by elected officials, labor groups, and consumers," the statement continued. "We remain firmly committed to advancing this critically important project and urge FERC to approve the project without further delay."

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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Willie Phillips waits to testify during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on March 3, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

According to TC Energy's Oct. 4, 2021, application filed to FERC, the roughly $335 million pipeline expansion project would leverage existing infrastructure to increase GTN's incremental mainline capacity by 150,000 dekatherms per day, enough to power thousands of additional homes in the region. The GTN pipeline travels through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and serves California customers.

The compressor stations that would be modified under GTNXP are located in the three states the pipeline travels through.

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TC Energy has also argued that GTNXP would help the region meet greenhouse gas emissions targets and supplement future clean energy development by providing a reliable backstop.

But FERC — which is chaired by Willie Phillips, a President Biden appointee and Democrat — has inexplicably delayed granting final approval for TC Energy to move ahead with construction in the project despite green-lighting in its environmental impact statement published in October 2022. Democrats and environmental groups have urged FERC to reject the project, potentially causing the delays.

In July, FERC removed the project from its open meeting without explanation. One day before the meeting, though, Democratic Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden penned a letter to FERC imploring it to reject the project. The commission again opted against discussing it during its following meeting on Sept. 21, which earned a pointed rebuke from TC Energy.

Democratic Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley, left, and Ron Wyden sent a letter to FERC commissioners on July 26, saying that the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project is "a significant fossil fuel expansion at a time when Oregon and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels." (Associated Press)

"The Commission's continued inaction has almost certainly exposed GTN's customers, who serve residential and commercial natural gas and electricity users, to more expensive supply sources to meet their load demands this winter," Stanley Chapman III, TC Energy's executive vice president and chief operating officer of natural gas pipelines division, wrote in a letter to FERC commissioners after the September meeting.

"As experience in California and elsewhere shows, delaying natural gas infrastructure projects hurts energy reliability and affordability and burdens families, small businesses, and other energy users," Chapman added. "These types of delays in Commission action also erode the kind of certainty and predictability that gas infrastructure developers rely on for planning, financing, and constructing projects that are in the public's interest."

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A FERC spokesperson declined to comment on the repeated delays, citing the agency's policy of not discussing internal pending matters. The next FERC meeting where GTNXP may be discussed is slated for Oct. 19.

Meanwhile, local labor unions, Republican lawmakers and energy groups have rallied in favor of GTNXP, arguing it will produce jobs and solidify energy supplies.

"It’s disappointing that bureaucrats keep delaying this project, which would help deliver clean and affordable natural gas across the region," said Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican from Oregon. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"It’s disappointing that bureaucrats keep delaying this project, which would help deliver clean and affordable natural gas across the region. Too often, projects like this are bogged down by red tape — obstructing job creation and domestic energy production," Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., told Fox News Digital.

"I supported the Lower Energy Costs Act earlier this year to streamline these initiatives so Oregonians don’t have to keep paying unsustainable energy bills."

Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., said in an interview with Fox News Digital that TC Energy's pipeline network is "critically important" for both his constituents and consumers throughout Oregon, Idaho and Washington.

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"There's no reason for there to be any problem with the environmental impact statement — and there wasn't," Bentz said. "That was what was at issue back in November of last year. And so this gas is critically important to my constituents. When we can't get additional supply, the price goes up. So, this is a big deal."

"This is an entity whose purpose is to make sure things are safe and reliable, not an entity that is charged with taking political steps to drive up the price of energy," the Oregon Republican told Fox News Digital. "And that's exactly what FERC is doing, and it's exactly contrary to their mission statement."

A natural gas-fueled electricity-generating power plant is pictured near Hermiston, Oregon. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Pipeliners Local Union 798 has also backed the project, and its members have collected about 2,635 signatures on a petition to FERC for the regulator to approve GTNXP.

And local electric utilities which directly provide energy to consumers in addition to the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA) have also pushed for the project's approval.

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"Local utilities and others have demonstrated a clear need for the energy GTNXP will deliver to residential and commercial consumers across the region," Dan Kirschner, NWGA's executive director, told Fox News Digital. "FERC should move the project forward to ensure that the warmth and productive energy it will provide is available to the people and businesses that need it when they need it."

"Knowing the deference that FERC pays to local communities, it’s also important to understand the broad local support that the project enjoys, including community and labor leaders," he added.