FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tom Gilbert, tom@njconservation.org, (267) 261-7325

GROUPS SHOW PENNEASTS LATEST CLAIMS AS

DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO GIVE PIPELINE A PURPOSE
Far Hills, NJ (December 1, 2016) PennEasts most recent claims of public benefit
dont hold up to serious scrutiny, according to documents filed today by the Eastern
Environmental Law Center (EELC) with the federal agency deciding whether to approve
the project.
PennEasts arguments are after-the-fact rationalizations for a project that isnt needed
to meet existing or future need, said Jennifer Danis, senior attorney for EELC, which,
together with Columbia University Environmental Law Clinic, made the filing within the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on behalf of New Jersey Conservation
Foundation (NJ Conservation) and Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
(SBMWA).
The filing included new research from gas market expert Skipping Stone that affirms
recent comments and analysis from New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel the
consumer watchdog for utilities issues. Both experts conclude that there is no need for
the PennEast pipeline and that costs to consumers could increase rather than
decrease.
PennEast continues to claim public need for a pipeline thats really designed for private
profit, said Tom Gilbert, campaign director of NJ Conservation and ReThink Energy NJ.
That does not justify damaging tax-payer preserved lands, polluting pristine waterways,
or taking land from hundreds of homeowners through eminent domain.
Skipping Stone concluded that affiliated consortiums like PennEast have resorted to
project justifications based on largely unsubstantiated and ill-defined justifications such
as increased reliability or cost-savings. Skipping Stone found no evidence that
PennEast would improve reliability or result in cost savings, and asserted that FERC
should be the first line of defense against certifying uneconomic projects like PennEast.
In effect, PennEast is saying believe us because we say so, said Jim Waltman,
executive director of SBMWA. The Rate Counsel and independent energy experts have
refuted all of PennEasts false claims of need.

Todays filing was in response to PennEasts October 12 submission to regulators in the

ongoing controversy about the health, safety and usefulness of the proposed 118-mile
pipeline. Federal regulators recently delayed by two months the date for deciding
whether to approve the pipeline.
In todays filing, EELC also criticized changes PennEast filed last month to its proposed
pipeline route. Saying the changes fail to address defects in the companys draft
environmental impact statement, the filing called the alterations nothing more than an
attempt to propel this destructive project on a fast track.
In its recent comments to FERC about the lack of need for the pipeline, the Rate
Counsel stated, While the faith demonstrated in if you build it, they will come makes
for a wonderful movie plot, it cannot be the basis for building an enormously expensive
greenfield pipeline. Rate Counsel also dismissed ancillary claims of public benefits,
saying, PennEast does not even allege, much less show, that there is an existing lack
of supply diversity or flexibility.
In earlier comments, Rate Counsel concluded that the main reason for the pipeline
proposal is profits that would be unfair to ratepayers and akin to winning the lottery.
Several state and national agencies including the federal Environmental Protection
Agency, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service have also raised serious questions about the proposed project.
NJ Conservation, SBMWA and EELC urged FERC not to proceed with approving the
pipeline because, despite PennEasts assertions to the contrary, the record contains
insufficient evidence of project need.
This self-dealing project only serves the companies behind PennEast PSE&G, South
Jersey Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas, and Elizabethtown Gas, said Gilbert.
The FERC deadline for public comment on the PennEast docket is December 5.
The EELC filing with FERC is available to download here.
About New Jersey Conservation Foundation
About Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
About Eastern Environmental Law Center

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