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U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday sharply questioned assertions that developers of the $1 billion PennEast gas pipeline can seize New Jersey-owned land for the project against the state's wishes, but they also acknowledged that siding with the Garden State could let it effectively veto a federally approved pipeline.
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The PennEast Pipeline Co. would drop its plans to build a natural-gas pipeline through New Jersey, or substantially alter them, if it loses a current appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court, a lawyer for the company told the court on Wednesday.
Paul Clement was asked by Justice Brett Kavanaugh about what would happen if the high court rules against PennEast in its review of a lower court ruling that the company does not have the right to sue the state to take 49 parcels of public land by eminent domain for construction of the pipeline.
New Jersey opposes the project. On Wednesday, its lawyer Jeremy Feigenbaum, argued that PennEast can t take the state to court to acquire the property only the United States government can. He said a federal law, the Natural Gas Act, does not explicitly authorize private lawsuits by private parties against states.
“The United States can condemn sovereign land when it takes responsibility and ownership of the suit, but it can’t select a private party to do so over a state’s objection,” he said during arguments that were held by telephone because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some justices seemed troubled that the federal government was not ultimately involved in court proceedings to obtain the property. “My concern here is that, I mean, in several cases, we’ve talked about the need for a suit against states to be conducted by politically responsible actors, federal lawyers,” Justice Elena Kagan told Edwin Kneedler, who was arguing for the Biden administration in suppo
Commissioners approved the request Wednesday, but kept some safeguards in place for Oklahomans.
Vanguard will be required to make quarterly reports on its in-house funds ownership in regulated utilities using the FERC format.
The order approved by commissioners also requires Vanguard to include its in-house funds aggregate investments in ONE Gas (a regulated utility in Oklahoma that doesn’t qualify as such under FERC’s rules).
The order does not eliminate the need for future presumed control rebuttal hearings. The corporation commission’s Public Utility Division or the Oklahoma Attorney General could initiate future cases whenever a perceived need arises.