"Pipelines: Court Tosses Sweeping Suit Against FERC"

"A federal court yesterday rejected an ambitious lawsuit from environmentalists who say federal regulators are biased toward approving natural gas pipelines.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network that accused the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of violating stakeholders' due process rights by rubber-stamping gas pipelines.

The group's lawsuit involved a particular proposal, the PennEast pipeline in Pennsylvania, but raised broader claims that FERC's funding structure creates a "structural bias" because the agency's budget is offset by fees and annual charges from natural gas companies."

Ellen M. Gilmer reports for EnergyWire March 23, 2017.