The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a lower court’s decision that vacated FERC’s approval of Spire STL Pipeline LLC, a completed 65-mile-long system that carries natural gas to the St. Louis area from Illinois.

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Spire STL’s system, initially issued a certificate by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2018, went into service in 2019. Scrutiny followed, with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in 2020 arguing that the certificate should be withdrawn because the Commission failed to follow its legal responsibilities when approving the project. 

FERC also should have more closely scrutinized Spire STL’s precedent agreement with affiliate Spire Missouri Inc., EDF argued. In 2016, Spire STL had agreed to take about 87% of the system’s expected...