Final Humilation: Dead PennEast Pipe Pays Antis Who Sued to Block It
After going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and winning, PennEast Pipeline, a 120-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that would have cost $1 billion to build and run from Dallas, Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, and terminate at Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington, Mercer County, New Jersey, threw in the towel last September (see PennEast Pipeline Throws in the Towel – Project Won’t Get Built). Now comes the final humiliation. Some of the antis who opposed the pipeline and helped contribute to its demise are getting reimbursed for their legal expenses by PennEast.
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States often get excited when the federal government deigns to hand out taxpayer money in dribs and drabs, a billion here and a billion there. Yet the best source of money to pump into an economy is private funds, invested by private companies. Private investment
Score another victory for the forces of evil, by which we mean leftwing, wackadoodle anti-fossil fuel extremists. Just a short time ago MDN received the statement below from PennEast Pipeline that states, in our words, they’ve given up. Throwing in the towel. Dead. PennEast will not get built. You can’t say we didn’t warn you this may happen.
Some disturbing news out of Pennsylvania. You may recall that PennEast Pipeline, a 120-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that will cost $1 billion to build and run from Dallas, Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, and terminate at Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington, Mercer County, New Jersey, won a huge and important victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in June (see
The Supreme Court decision from earlier this week allowing PennEast Pipeline to use the federally delegated power of eminent domain to cross tiny pieces of land owned (or controlled by) New Jersey is still reverberating across the country (see
As encouraging (indeed critical) as this week’s Supreme Court decision was and is for the PennEast Pipeline, a 120-mile 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) pipeline from northeastern Pennsylvania to New Jersey, the court victory does not automatically mean the pipeline will get built. Not one square inch of pipe has been laid yet. What are the potential obstacles that could derail the project?
As we previously predicted would happen, New Jersey lost its Supreme Court case to block PennEast Pipeline from using eminent domain to cross NJ-owned or controlled land. This was a critical case to prevent blue states like NJ, and New York, and California from blocking ALL new interstate pipelines aimed at crossing states to deliver product from other states. NJ’s lawless action was an overt attempt at blocking interstate commerce and a direct challenge to one of the purposes of the Natural Gas Act, passed in 1938. Disappointingly PennEast won by only one vote. Still, it’s a victory!
Here’s a connection we hadn’t made until we read about yesterday’s oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in PennEast Pipeline vs. New Jersey. The connection is this: The PennEast case also has huge ramifications for another currently-stalled M-U pipeline. Columbia Gas wants to build a tiny 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline under the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia. It is being blocked from doing so by the lefties in Maryland (see 
Last week the State of New Jersey, along with co-conspirator the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, filed their responses to defend their indefensible actions in blocking PennEast Pipeline’s eminent domain taking of land owned or controlled by NJ. It was their last, desperate attempt to avoid having a lower court ruling overturned. They gave it their best shot, but we think they came up short.
Earlier this week MDN brought you the news that the Biden administration, via its Acting Solicitor General, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting PennEast Pipeline’s appealed case to overturn a lower court decision barring the company from using eminent domain to condemn land owned or controlled by the State of New Jersey (see
It’s kind of funny to watch how leftists react when something doesn’t go their way. Tell someone on the left “no” or “wait” or “you’ll have to pay for that” and they melt like snowflakes. Sometimes they pitch the equivalent of a temper tantrum. That was our thought as we read about a leftist Democrat politician from New Jersey, Lisa McCormick, and her reaction to the Biden administration filing a brief that supports the PennEast Pipeline in U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday PennEast Pipeline filed its opening brief in a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in April. The case appeals a lower court ruling that disallows PennEast from using eminent domain to build across land owned or controlled by the State of New Jersey. PennEast calls the previous ruling by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals “deeply flawed” and “seriously misunderstands both eminent domain and sovereign immunity.” What are PennEast’s chances of winning, and if they do win, when will PennEast get built?