Three AGs Sent Comments Replying to GTN’s Supplemental Response to FERC’s Data Request on GTN Xpress Pipeline Project

MAY 31, 2023

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, joined by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, submitted comments on Gas Transmission Northwest’s supplemental response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) data request about its proposed GTN Xpress Project. The same coalition submitted comments on May 5, 2023 replying to GTN’s initial response to the data request. GTN’s planned project would expand the capacity of an existing natural gas pipeline. In their May 31 comments, the AGs argued that GTN had mischaracterized a market briefing by IHS Markit as supporting GTN’s argument that the pipeline expansion is needed. In fact, the AGs noted in their May 31 comments, “the IHS Markit Report forecasts falling regional demand and rising production in the Western U.S., which more than offsets any declining production in the Rocky Mountains.” According to the AGs, the market report made clear that GTN’s proposed pipeline expansion is motivated by “a desire to increase gas production in Western Canada” rather than a need “to serve growing demand in the Northwest U.S.”