News

Joe Fagan was quoted in an article, "For rebuffed Jordan Cove LNG, pipeline was the stumbling block at FERC," in S&P Global Market Intelligence. The article discusses FERC's rejection of the Jordan Cove Energy Project LP and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline projects, based on a lack of "necessity and commercial support." The developers requested a rehearing, saying they had entered into agreements that demonstrated commercial support for the project.  But the Commission on Dec. 9 denied that request because developers failed to present "extraordinary circumstances that would have justified a rehearing," according to the article. "The title of [FERC's] order should be, 'A Day Late, a Dollar Short,'" Fagan said in the article. "FERC repeatedly [expressed] its frustration with the fact that the evidence of the market support/demand was not provided during the FERC review process despite the attempt by agency staff to elicit evidence of such support." Moving forward, Fagan said, "getting a Court of Appeals to remand the decision not to issue the certificate back to FERC will be a high bar." Instead, the developers could opt to submit a new application with the agreements demonstrating commercial support. FERC acknowledges that it can rely on the earlier record, Fagan said,  meaning "the developers would not be starting from square one."