Appeals Court Rules in Favor of FERC-Permitted Indiana NatGas Line

A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permit issued for a natural gas pipeline in Indiana will stand after a federal appeals court dismissed a petition aimed at killing it.

On Jan. 7, a three-person panel for the Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, dismissed a petition against the FERC-issued permit for a 24-mile pipeline expansion by Boardwalk Pipelines that crosses the Kentucky-Indiana state line. An environmental group argued that the FERC should have analyzed non-gas alternatives before issuing the permit.

“As night follows day, an environmental challenge follows the approval of a natural gas pipeline,” wrote Judge Neomi Rao in the first sentence of the appellate court’s decision.

“Congress gave FERC authority to promote the development of interstate natural gas pipelines, but it left the choice of energy generation to the States,” Rao wrote.

In her opinion, Rao alluded to the many cases involving natural gas the D.C. Appeals Court has heard over the past few years. The D.C. court has primary jurisdiction over FERC decisions and therefore hears most of the petitions and lawsuits that follow permits over pipeline and LNG projects.

In 2024, the court issued rulings against permits for a Williams Cos.’ pipeline expansion project in the mid-Atlantic as well as two LNG production facilities in Texas.

In the Jan. 7 case, CenterPoint Energy proposed the pipeline as part of an overall energy transition project to retire a coal plant with wind and solar power. Houston-based CenterPoint also proposed a 460-megawatt gas-fired power station to serve as backup.

CenterPoint contracted Boardwalk Pipelines' Texas Gas Transmission line to supply the plant with a connection to an existing pipeline system in Kentucky. FERC approved the project, which crosses from Kentucky into Indiana where the plant is located, in 2023.

Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, a group focusing on environmental policy and healthcare issues, filed a petition against the FERC permit. The D.C. appeals court heard the case in May 2024. The group argued that FERC’s analysis of the permit was inconsistent with the National Environmental Policy Act. 

However, the court ruled that FERC appropriately kept its focus on the environmental impact of the proposed pipeline.

“FERC has no statutory authority to consider non-gas alternatives already rejected by the state,” Rao said in the ruling.