Energy Policy News is pleased to present a webinar on the future of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) natural gas infrastructure policy on Tuesday, May 24, at 1 p.m. ET.
In this first installment in our 2022 webinar series, former FERC Commissioner and Chairman Neil Chatterjee and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Attorney Gillian Giannetti will discuss FERC’s natural gas infrastructure policies, which have been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent months.
The one-hour webinar will be moderated by veteran energy industry journalist Rod Kuckro with assistance from Energy Policy News Associate Editors Ivan De Luce and Henrik Nilsson, and will feature a deep dive into the FERC policies, with time for a question-and-answer period for attendees to weigh in on the issues.
FERC issued two new policies Feb. 18, only to reverse them into draft status in March following criticism from the industry and lawmakers. While the move was unprecedented, FERC’s efforts also received praise from environmental organizations like Sierra Club and Earthjustice.
One policy was an update to FERC’s Policy Statement on the Certification of New Interstate Natural Gas Facilities from 1999. Under the newly updated policy, before approving a project, FERC would have considered the interests of the applicant’s existing customers, existing pipelines and their captive customers, environmental interest, and the interests of landowners and surrounding communities — including environmental justice communities.
In addition to the update to the 1999 policy statement, FERC also issued an interim greenhouse gas (GHG) policy that considered projects with estimated GHG emissions of 100,000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) to have a significant impact on climate change, and thus allow the Commission to deny projects based on estimated emissions.
The policies raise questions about the future of natural gas during the clean energy transition as well as FERC’s fundamental role as a federal energy regulator.
Neil Chatterjee is a senior advisor in the Energy Regulatory practice at global law firm Hogan Lovells. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, Chatterjee served as Chairman of FERC between 2017 and 2020. He has also served as an advisor to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), aiding in the passage of major energy, highway and agriculture legislation.
Gillian Giannetti is a senior attorney with the NRDC, where she focuses her advocacy on energy issues at FERC and the U.S. Department of Energy. Her work revolves around issues concerning natural gas infrastructure projects and grid resilience and reliability efforts.
Moderator Kuckro has spent 40 years covering energy for S&P Global Platts, Oil Daily, E&E News and serves as a contributing editor with Energy Policy News.
Information and registration are available here for the free May 24 webinar “Gas Policy in Crisis: FERC and the Path Forward.”
