Sierra Club Asks NC Regulators to Revoke AC Pipeline Contracts
The radicals at the Sierra Club are taking another run at stopping Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project in its tracks–before the first inch of pipe is laid. ACP is a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. This time Sierra Club nutters are using a novel approach to try and stop ACP. They’ve asked North Carolina regulators to revoke approval of affiliate agreements by Duke Energy to use the gas that will flow through the pipeline. The Sierra Club’s argument is that the agreements, signed in 2014, are no longer valid. Duke doesn’t need as much natural gas (for electric generation) as they thought they would. And therefore to stay locked into the agreement would be an unfair burden to Duke’s rate payers. If Duke were to pull out of the deals, the ACP project would collapse, which is what Sierra Club happens. Duke has responded that the gas will be used for more than electric generation. Given that NC now has a Dem governor who doesn’t like fracking (see NC Fracking Remains in Limbo, 5 Yrs After Legislature Approved It), and given that regulatory functions come under the oversight of the executive branch, it does raise a minor red flag that the Sierra Club has launched this latest effort. Will it get traction with NC regulators?…
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