Keystone strategy shifts
TransCanada’s new approach could leave approval to Obama’s successor
CA LG A RY TransCanada Corp. is changing its strategy on getting regulatory approvals for its longdelayed Keystone XL pipeline.
The company said Tuesday it is withdrawing some of its legal applications and constitutional court proceedings in Nebraska and choosing instead to file an application with the state’s Public Service Commission to get approvals for the pipeline route.
The company was in the middle of “eminent domain” proceedings in Nebraska, a legal process that the company described as a “tool of last resort” for getting easements along the pipeline route.
The company said that 91 per cent of landowners along the route have signed voluntary easements that would allow for the construction of Keystone XL.
“Despite having route authority to construct Keystone XL, uncertainty in the courts around the constitutionality of how the route was approved was very likely to carry on once again to the Nebraska Supreme Court,” TransCanada spokesperson Mark Cooper said in an email.
As a result, TransCanada has decided to go through the public service commission for pipeline approvals.
“It ultimately saves time, reduces conflict with those who oppose the project and sets clear rules for approval of the route,” Cooper said.
The change in strategy is expected to push final approvals for the pipeline project to 2017 — after President Barack Obama has left office. Such a delay could put the pipeline’s fate in the hands of the next president.
TransCanada needs presidential approval of the pipeline before construction begins because the project crosses the Canada-U.S. border.
The $8-billion Keystone XL project, which would expand the amount of western Canadian crude oil that could reach the U.S. Gulf Coast by 830,000 barrels per day, has been in regulatory limbo in the U.S. for seven years.
“We have followed every process put before us, including our efforts to have this route reviewed extensively by the (Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality) in a process that included a thorough comment period from several hundred Nebraskans who took part in open house discussions and provided hundreds of additional comments,” Cooper said.
The company is expected to file its application with Nebraska’s Public Service Commission in the coming days.