In ‘Monumental’ Decision, Supreme Court Rules PennEast May Invoke Eminent Domain for 1 Bcf/d Natural Gas Project

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared a key roadblock from PennEast Pipeline Co.’s path toward finishing construction of a major natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The high court on Tuesday ruled that the PennEast joint venture may use federal eminent domain power to condemn and acquire 42 parcels in New Jersey to complete the 120-mile interstate pipeline project. The system would move 1 Bcf/d into New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.

The court, in a 5-4 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, rejected New Jersey’s challenge to allow a private company to use eminent domain to seize state-owned land.

PennEast petitioned the high court in 2020 to review a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s ruling. That ruling concluded that a FERC...