Overview
Law360 quoted Marc Spitzer in a January 29 article titled “Split Rulings Show Appetite To Change FERC Pipeline Policy.” The article discusses how a recent string of divided pipeline approvals suggest that commissioners at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are eager to answer Chair Kevin McIntyre's December call to review its FERC’s nearly 20-year-old pipeline approval policy. Some experts caution that any changes may ultimately be more tuneup than overhaul of FERC's review process.
Mr. Spitzer, a FERC commissioner from 2006 to 2011, says the review is also a chance for commissioners to establish a consensus pipeline policy, even if it ultimately produces winners and losers. "FERC's Section 7 process can't be too hard and too easy at the same time, it's counterintuitive. FERC is catching it from both ends and this process could be a way of, if not satisfying both sides, at least reflecting that both sides are being heard."
The full article can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
