The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office has called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to grant a stay of an order approving the proposed Connecticut-to-New York Islander East Pipeline project, which seeks to deliver natural gas to the expanding Long Island, NY, market.

The stay of the Commission’s Sept. 19 order, certificating the Islander East project, is sought “until completion of the [federal and state] administrative process, and any associated judicial review or, alternatively, at least until Jan. 27, 2003,” when FERC has signaled it will rule on the merits of Connecticut’s request, said the state’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Currently, there are at least “four active or potential” administrative proceedings underway that affect the pipeline, including a request for a Clean Water Act permit from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CDEP), an appeal of a coastal consistency denial to the U.S. Department of Commerce, a future Section 10 and 404 permit proceeding before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), and a final rehearing decision by FERC, he told the agency.

Even though the issues are far from resolved, “Islander East has notified the ACOE, and several Connecticut citizens living along the proposed pipeline route, that the company intends to begin land-side construction activity during the spring of 2003,” Blumenthal noted. “It is premature, at best, for the private utility to commence construction of a project of this nature without all regulatory approvals in place.”

This is not the first time a Connecticut agency or official has requested that the Islander East pipeline be put on hold. In May, the CDEP urged FERC to defer final action on the pipeline and any other proposed gas pipeline in Long Island Sound until a state task force could complete an investigation into the market demand for such projects.

Last spring, Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland and the state legislature acted separately to temporarily bar state agencies from approving large-scale gas and electric transmission projects that would cross the Long Island Sound. The governor’s executive order put the brakes on state action on energy transmission projects until Jan. 15, 2003, while the task force conducted its probe (See NGI, April 22). The legislature’s more-aggressive measure imposed a 12-month moratorium on agencies.

Despite the state’s objections, FERC moved forward in mid-September and issued the certificate for Islander East, sponsored by Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) and KeySpan Energy, to carry over 260 MMcf/d and ultimately more than 400 MMcf/d from Connecticut under Long Island Sound to connect with KeySpan’s Long Island line.

It also awarded a certificate for a companion project for an extension (Hubline) and expanded capabilities of DEGT’s Algonquin Gas Transmission in Connecticut to feed into the project, carrying gas from Sable Island in Nova Scotia through the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. Islander East would lease the additional 260 MMcf/d of capacity on Algonquin, eliminating the need for 27 miles of new pipeline. Islander East has been targeted for in-service in November 2003.

In October, Iroquois Pipeline asked FERC to defer action on its application to build rival pipeline, Eastern Long Island, until at least January of 2003, when it will provide the agency with a status report on the project (See NGI, Oct. 14). Iroquois made the request just weeks after the Commission awarded it a preliminary determination on non-environmental issues for the Long Island project.

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