More on Natural Gas Pipeline Overbuild - Here in Michigan/Ohio and in Appalachia and North Carolina

Shared by Frank Zaski

Articles by the INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

The article    http://ieefa.org/two-pipeline-expansion-projects-appalachia-indicate-rush-toward-overbuilding/

The study  http://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Risks-Associated-With-Natural-Gas-Pipeline-Expansion-in-Appalachia-_April-2016.pdf

• Pipelines out of the Marcellus and Utica region are being overbuilt.
• Overbuilding puts ratepayers at risk of paying for excess capacity, landowners at risk of sacrificing property to unnecessary projects, and investors at risk of loss if shipping contracts are not renewed and pipelines are underused.
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission facilitates overbuilding. The high rates of return on equity that FERC grants to pipeline companies (allowable rates of up to 14%), along with the lack of a comprehensive planning process for natural gas infrastructure, attracts more capital into pipeline development than is necessary.
• FERC’s approach to assessing the need for such projects is insufficient.
• Industry leaders recognize and acknowledge that current expansion plans will likely result in overbuilding.

 A webinar with the study's author:

More detail on the webinar available here: http://appvoices.org/webinars/pipelines/