NOTE: Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillettee, who will lead the pipeline permit study, will be the featured speaker at the Hedgeye Energy Policy Conference on October 11 in New York. Please contact to RSVP or more information and click here for more details.
US Energy Secretary Rick Perry told the National Petroleum Council on Monday that the Trump Energy Department is exploring federal intervention to approve pipeline permits over state denials on national security grounds.
In addition, Secretary Perry said he was requesting that Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette lead a study, in coordination with the National Petroleum Council, on improving the permitting process for pipelines and other energy infrastructure.
The permit study could take several months to a year to complete but we believe the Administration is actively looking to test using national security considerations to override a state permit denial. Any such action would likely see legal challenges.
As a former Governor, Perry told the National Petroleum Council in his speech that while he supported states’ rights, he also believed there needs to be “a thoughtful conversation about, is America’s energy infrastructure in the national security of this country?” He added “I’ll suggest to you that it is.”
Perry said he was frustrated by recent Constitution Pipeline denial where the “Governor of New York can stop a pipeline going across (the state) because he thinks that’s the political best decision or philosophically he’s not in support of that.” He added “the issue is, are the people in that state, or are the people on the other side of that state, well-served by the political decision of a state that is between them and the energy resources that can keep their people safe and economically viable.”
In separate remarks at the National Petroleum Council meeting on Monday, Deputy Secretary Brouillettee also raised the potential of additional federal actions to address select cases where states have denied pipeline permits. “We are looking at the eminent domain authorities given to DOE. We are looking at it in a number of different areas including this particular area (of pipelines), but also with regard to electricity and looking to site electrical infrastructure,” Brouillette said.
Brouillettee said the department was exploring next steps but added that “Instinct tells me that with regard to infrastructure we want to see more, not less. It would be the irony of ironies if we had all this (oil and gas) production and no way to move it to market.”
This is the second time DOE has considered national security as a rationale to advance its energy policy priorities. This summer the department declined to use national security to require a minimum percentage of coal-fired power generation.
