Gas Co. Given Power to Condemn Land in PA; Meanwhile, Pipelines Are Planned to Export Gas Overseas

[JPZenger]

The Public Utility Commission has given a natural gas company the power to condemn privately owned land in Pennsylvania for a pipeline. Others are likely to follow. It was a split 3-2 decision that rejected the recommendation of the PUC's own Administrative Law Judge.

The AP article linked at the bottom of this post describes the industry's intent to complete a pipeline to the Chesapeake Bay, so that the natural gas from Pennsylvania can be sold overseas for higher prices. Corbett recently bragged that Philadelphia could benefit if it becomes a port to ship PA. gas overseas. So much for "energy independence."

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The following is from a newsletter by Michael A. Magee, Dickinson School of Law Agricultural Law Center Research Assistant

"In its May 19th decision, the PA. Public Utility Commission (PUC) moved one step closer to granting Laser Northeast Gathering Co. public utility status. Laser applied for utility status to offer gas gathering and transportation pipeline services...

Judge Colwell’s decision was based on her conclusion that Laser’s gathering system would not serve the “public,” but rather individual gas owners. PUC disagreed, finding that “public” may refer to individuals or companies, and remanded the case to determine whether utility status for Laser is “necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public.” (Quote from PA. Statutes).

The significance of the decision was emphasized by dissenting Commissioner James Cawley: “The PUC Code must be strictly construed when pipelines are involved, because a certificate also confers the power of eminent domain, which upsets the negotiating balance between landowners and pipeline operators over rights-of-way or easements, with grave implications for the individual Pennsylvanians . . . given the enormity of shale gas extraction underway in the state.”
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PUC Press Release, May 19, 2011:

http://www.puc.state.pa.us/General/press_releases/Press_Releases.aspx?ShowPR=2759

Statement of one of members who voted no:

http://www.puc.state.pa.us/general/pdf/Comm-SM/Cawley_Stmt_OSA2153371_051911.pdf

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http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2011/06/13/news/doc4df662fd944a8782639652.txt

"Export of Pa. shale gas abroad angers some owners

"What she does not want to live with is a pipeline that would help take gas to a port for export overseas. "I want this gas to stay in America," she said. "I'm all for America first."

In towns across largely rural Greene County and elsewhere in south central Pennsylvania that are crucial hubs for transporting the nation's natural gas, most people express similar sentiment: They consider pipeline companies good neighbors, but that could change if they become mass exporters. There's a prevalent, often emotional, opposition to taking any gas produced from the Marcellus shale formation and selling it abroad. ..."They said that this natural gas was to help America. Well, if that's not true, they deceived."

Greene County and Franklin County are just two of Pennsylvania's counties hosting the growing number of pipeline hubs that help connect gaslands to transmission lines largely serving the East Coast. Pipeline companies are adding more powerful compressor stations and bigger pipes to decades-old sites throughout the state.

Spectra Energy Corp. subsidiary Texas Eastern Transmission is building up two of its lines across southern Pennsylvania. Dominion and EQT have projects connecting West Virginia and Greene County, with Dominion's Appalachian Gateway Project leading all the way to the Oakford storage and compression center in Salem in Westmoreland County. National Fuel Gas Co. has a project across the northcentral part of the state."