The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation's leading energy regulator, has given the green light to a significant natural gas expansion project in the Pacific Northwest.
The project, known as the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTNXP), is spearheaded by major energy developer TC Energy. The project has received support from Republican lawmakers in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as labor unions, all of whom have been urging FERC to issue the certificate.
TC Energy spokesperson Michael Tadeo expressed his appreciation for FERC's bipartisan approval of the project, stating, "The GTN XPress project will play a critical role in keeping energy affordable and reliable for consumers in California and the Pacific Northwest. We appreciate FERCs bipartisan action today to approve the project and will work diligently to place it into service as soon as possible."
According to the application submitted by TC Energy to FERC in October 2021, the $75 million project will enhance three existing compressor stations and increase capacity on an existing system that has been transporting natural gas for several decades.
The project will utilize existing infrastructure to boost GTN's incremental mainline capacity by 150,000 dekatherms per day, sufficient to power approximately 500,000 additional homes in the region. The operational GTN pipeline, which serves customers in California, traverses through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
The GTNXP project, primarily involving software and other upgrades to TC Energy's existing infrastructure, comes at a time when demand for natural gas transportation on the GTN pipeline system has surged by 26% in recent years.
This increase comes as nearby natural gas production has declined. The pipeline supplies essential gas to utility companies, which subsequently provide energy to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., who led a bicameral group of colleagues in urging FERC to approve the project, expressed her satisfaction with the decision, stating, "After I led a bicameral group of my colleagues in urging FERC to act, Im glad the commission is finally allowing this much-needed energy project to move forward. It will support domestic energy production and boost our energy security while also helping lower utility bills for families. Although its overdue, this is the right decision."
Earlier this month, Chavez-DeRemer, along with fellow Oregon GOP Rep. Cliff Bentz, four other House Republicans, and Idaho GOP Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch, wrote a letter to FERC leadership. They urged immediate approval of the pipeline expansion project, arguing that it would benefit their constituents, help achieve climate goals, and provide "energy certainty" for the region.
The approval comes after FERC, chaired by Willie Phillips, a Democrat appointed by President Biden, had repeatedly postponed approval for the project without providing an explanation. This delay occurred amid pressure from Democrats and environmental groups to reject the project.
In a letter to FERC commissioners following the September meeting, Stanley Chapman III, TC Energy's executive vice president and chief operating officer of the natural gas pipelines division, criticized the commission's continued inaction. He wrote, "The Commission's continued inaction has almost certainly exposed GTN's customers, who serve residential and commercial natural gas and electricity users, to more expensive supply sources to meet their load demands this winter."
Chapman added, "As experience in California and elsewhere shows, delaying natural gas infrastructure projects hurts energy reliability and affordability and burdens families, small businesses, and other energy users. These types of delays in Commission action also erode the kind of certainty and predictability that gas infrastructure developers rely on for planning, financing, and constructing projects that are in the public's interest."
Login