On November 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held a technical conference to discuss potential methods natural gas companies may use to mitigate the effects of direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the Natural Gas Act’s (NGA) sections 3 and 7 authorizations. These NGA authorizations include FERC-regulated natural gas infrastructure such as interstate pipelines, related compressor stations, and LNG export facilities.
The technical conference was split into three panels, which focused on: 1) the level of mitigation for a proposed project’s reasonably foreseeable GHG emissions, 2) types of mitigation, and 3) compliance and cost recovery of mitigation. Stephen Mayfield, the City of Tallahassee’s Assistant Gas Manager, was invited to participate in the compliance and cost recovery panel on behalf of APGA. During the technical conference, Stephen did an excellent job of highlighting the efforts many APGA members, including his own, have taken to minimize their system’s GHG emissions. Additionally, Stephen emphasized the need for the Commission to seriously consider the economic impacts that such measures will have on the end customer, as the costs associated with such mitigation efforts will inevitably be passed on to those who rely on natural gas to fuel their homes and businesses.
A copy of Stephen Mayfield’s opening statement is available here. APGA staff is working with the Regulatory Subcommittee to develop post-technical conference comments, which are currently due December 14. APGA also joined a joint request with AGA, INGAA, and NGSA to extend the comment period by 30 days.
For questions on this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.