FERC has Options if Court of Appeals Shuts Down Operating Interstate Pipeline
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Randall S. Rich of Pierce Atwood LLP, writing in the firm’s Energy Infrastructure Blog, considers the question: Can an interstate natural gas pipeline continue to operate if a court vacates its certificate authorizations?
He raises the question in light of a federal appellate court’s ruling that raises the possibility that it will vacate certificates of public convenience and necessity authorizing the construction and operation of the Florida Southeast Connection pipelines. Those pipelines are currently transporting natural gas to power plants in Florida.
He covers the facts of the case and then discusses a legal theory that may permit the pipelines to continue to transport natural gas if the certificate orders were vacated.