FERC, with its new appointees, is now addressing its backlog and swiftly moving forward to greenlight much needed pipeline projects.

We aren’t counting our chickens yet, but the approvals would certainly be a net positive for midstream industry growth, and, ultimately, for producers and consumers of natural gas.

-Ethan Bellamy (managing director, Robert W. Baird & Co.) quoted in Catherine Traywick’s “ U.S. Energy Agency to Take on $50 Billion Backlog as Senate Acts.” Bloomberg Politics, August 3, 2017.

The Senate recently confirmed two new appointees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, ending a seven-month dormancy due to lack of a quorum. With three members, two Republicans and one Democrat, one pick from each party remains for a full five-member commission.

This delay, on top of a fossil-fuel animus by Obama’s FERC, has created a $13 billion backlog of regulatory approvals for 17 market-ready natural gas projects. With its other business, FERC’s total project backlog represents $50 billion. FERC should begin greenlighting projects immediately.

Read more:

http://naturalgasnow.org/ferc-full-speed-ahead-greenlight-pipeline-projects/