The Vital Importance of Pipeline and Transmission Infrastructure to Decarbonization - Energy Law Insights
Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
Nota Bene Episode 97: The Seismic Changes Renewables Are Bringing to Energy Transmission and Its Infrastructure with Mark Sundback
Policy Minute: TSA Cybersecurity Roadmap for Pipelines
On August 29, 2025, the US secretary of energy proposed a significant regulatory shift regarding the certification process for new interstate natural gas facilities. In a letter submitted to FERC, the secretary recommended...more
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) issued a news release announcing $86 million in grants to: …enhance states’ pipeline safety programs. PHMSA states that the grants will help its “state...more
New Standard: The newly issued NOM-020-ASEA-2024 regulates the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of onshore natural gas and ethane transportation pipelines. ...more
The D.C. Circuit issued its first precedential opinion interpreting the recent Supreme Court decision Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, 145 S. Ct. 1497 (2025)....more
Like the European Commission in a series of other projects, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) assessed and signed-off on ESG-related collaboration between competitors....more
In Sierra Club v. FERC, No. 24-1199 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 1, 2025), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a 1,000-foot...more
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Office of Pipeline Safety (“OPS”) issued a July 17th memorandum titled: Inspection and Enforcement Priorities (“Memorandum”)....more
In case you somehow forgot, the 2021 Valentines Day storm coined “Snovid,” “Snowmageddon,” or officially labeled Winter Storm Uri, blanketed Texas in snow and ice, even bringing snowfall to Galveston Beach. As temperatures...more
The Tyler Court of Appeals reversed a $2.5 million judgment against pipeline successors (Coffeyville Resources Crude Transportation, LLC v. ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., No. 12-23-00276-CV, 2025 WL 356222 [Tex. App.—Tyler Jan. 31,...more
On June 18, 2025, FERC temporarily raised the cost limits for blanket certificate natural gas pipeline projects constructed and placed into service by May 31, 2027, from $41 million to $61.65 million. Citing what it called a...more
On June 18, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) took four actions to ease regulatory burdens for constructing interstate pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities authorized under the Natural Gas...more
On May 22, 2025, the House passed budget reconciliation legislation referred to as “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (the “Bill”). As currently written, the Bill would reshape key aspects of federal energy policy by targeting...more
On April 24, 2025, FERC denied NGO Transmission, Inc.’s (“NGO Transmission”) application under 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) to abandon its jurisdictional facilities and reclassify them from jurisdictional transmission...more
On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision—Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 125 F.4th 229 (2025) ("Citizens Action")—affirming...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently announced two important rules in two eminent domain opinions. Both cases involved pipeline access easements that the condemnor properly took under the Natural Gas Act....more
On January 10, 2025, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ("PHMSA") issued a proposed rule setting forth revisions to the federal Pipeline Safety Regulations ("PSR") (49 C.F.R. Parts 190-99) to include...more
In a February 7, 2025 decision in Simon v. Sunoco Pipeline LP, No. 2015-3302 (Wash. Cty. February 7, 2025), the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, Pennsylvania concluded that Sunoco Pipeline LP and Sunoco Logistics...more
This EO establishes a policy to fully utilize Alaska's abundant natural resources. It directs federal agencies to rescind or revise restrictions, policies and environmental reviews implemented since January 2021 that limit...more
The Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. filed a citizen suit Complaint in the United States District Court of Massachusetts on November 12th alleging violations by the following: Besides the Conservation Law Foundation, the...more
On December 20, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) upheld FERC’s order authorizing Stingray Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (“Stingray”) to abandon a portion of its...more
In a January 8, 2025, vote along party lines, the three Democratic Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PA PUC or Commission), led by Chairman Stephen DeFrank, reversed nearly a decade of PA PUC...more
On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana v. FERC, rejected a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) challenge to FERC’s...more
Despite being at war for almost three years, Russia has continued to ship natural gas via pipelines through Ukraine to other countries in Europe. That has kept money flowing to both countries, which helps as they try to kill...more
In a series of recent orders, the D.C. Circuit has renewed its prodding of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission" or "FERC") to strengthen its environmental reviews of proposed pipeline projects. On July 30,...more
On November 27, 2024, in Venture Global, CP2 LNG, LLC,1 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC or Commission) explicitly overruled precedent set in Northern Natural Gas Co., a 2021 decision in which FERC made an...more