Tickers: SEP, DTE, D, DUK, SO, NEE, UGI, SJI, NJR, PNY, EQM, EQT, ED, WGL, TRP
UPDATE: Since our note was first published earlier this afternoon, President Trump tapped former McConnell energy advisor Neil Chatterjee as the new Acting FERC Chairman until the designated chairman is confirmed in the fall. In addition, Chatterjee announced FERC's first business meeting will be held on September 20. However, we expect announcements about project approvals will come sooner.
New FERC Commissioner Rob Powelson, formerly of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission and former President of NARUC, was sworn in Thursday morning giving the Commission a quorum for the first time in six months.
Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, former energy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was sworn-in on Monday. Both new commissioners were confirmed by the US Senate last Thursday before leaving for the August recess. Powelson and Chatterjee join current acting FERC Chair Cheryl LaFleur to form a working quorum.
There is some speculation that Powelson may be tapped as the new acting Chair for the next two months or so to replace LaFleur, who is a Democrat minority commissioner appointed by President Obama. However, President Trump last week formally nominated Republican Kevin McIntyre to be Commission Chairman as well as Democrat Richard Glick for the remaining two vacancies on the commission. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for them on September 7 with expedited confirmation votes in committee and by the full Senate by late September or early October.
FERC normally does not hold an August business meeting at which project approval and other decisions are announced. However, due to the backlog of projects now awaiting FERC consideration, we believe an August business meeting is under active consideration, and at the very least, may see project approval announcements before the end of the month.
We believe the first project to get approved will be the $2 billion, 1.5 Bcf/d NEXUS natural gas transmission pipeline in Michigan and Ohio by joint developers Spectra Energy Partners (SEP) and DTE Energy (DTE). Before FERC lost its quorum in February, it had approved seven projects in the pipeline with NEXUS believed to be the next in line to be advanced. The project was slated for completion by the end of 2017 and is now looking at a 2018 in-service date as a result of the FERC delays.
Other projects in the immediate backlog awaiting approval include:
PennEast Natural Gas Pipeline - a $1 billion, 1 Bcf/d project in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by developers: Spectra Energy Partners (SEP), UGI Energy Services (UGI), Southern Gas Company (SO), SJI Midstream (SJI), and NJR Pipeline Company (NJR).
Atlantic Coast Pipeline – a $5.5 billion, 1.5 Bcf/d project in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina by developers: Dominion Energy (D), Duke (DUK), Southern Gas Company (SO) and Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY).
Mountain Valley Pipeline – a $3.5 billion, 2 Bcf/d project in West Virginia and Virginia by developers: EQT Midstream Partners (EQM) 45.5%, NextEra US Gas Assets (NEE) 31%, Con Edison Transmission (ED) 12.5%, WGL Midstream (WGL) 10% and RGC Midstream 1%.
Mountaineer Xpress – a $2 billion, 2.7 Bcf/d project by TransCanada (TRP) in West Virginia.
New FERC Commissioner Robert Powelson is sworn in on Thursday. Photo credit: FERC.
