FERC has for the first time incorporated a review of climate change impacts in a natural gas certificate decision, sparking a contentious debate among the commissioners over the major policy implications for future infrastructure projects under its purview.

FERC

In a decision handed down during the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s open meeting last week, the agency adopted a new approach to considering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its approval of Northern Natural Gas Co.’s request to build 87.3 miles of replacement line to upgrade its system in South Dakota and Nebraska.

The order, the details of which FERC made public on Monday, attempts to “assess the significance of the project’s GHG emissions and their contribution to climate change,” ultimately reaching the...