The Supreme Court will not rehear the Mountain Valley Pipeline case

The Supreme Court will not review the D.C. Circuit’s decision dismissing a lawsuit brought by a group of Virginia landowners against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over that agency’s eminent domain authority in the Mountain Valley Pipeline case, it said this week (Cardinal News).

What’s going on: “Since 2020, all six (landowners) have argued that Congress made a mistake by delegating legislative authority in this important area to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees the construction of interstate pipelines. The commission allowed pipeline developers to take private property for a 303-mile natural gas project from West Virginia to Southern Virginia, finding it was in the public interest.

• In December, the Supreme Court said it would not temporarily stop developers from building a section of the pipeline through landowners’ property.
• Last July, the court dismissed an injunction issued by a lower court against the developers, allowing the stalled construction to resume.

Why is it important: The $7.85 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline, previously scheduled for completion early this year, is the only natural gas project under construction in Appalachia.

• When the pipeline comes online — which developers expect will happen later this month — the pipeline will deliver affordable, clean energy to homes and businesses in the eastern United States

Our view: “Completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline is critical to our nation’s energy security, which is why NAM has urged Congress to ensure that judicial review becomes part of any much-needed future enabling legislative reforms,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michaela Davina . “Long and expensive legal disputes like the one MVP experienced discourages design development and makes it harder for manufacturers to do their jobs.”