6月22日，联邦上诉法院决定批准联邦能源监管委员会对已经建造和运营的天然气管道的批准，这增加了新的关注，因为该机构重新考虑其过程以确定对此类州际线的未来需求。

华盛顿特区上诉法院表示，FERC未能充分平衡公共利益，并对65英里英里的2.87亿美元的Spire STL管道产生不利影响，该管道与落基山脉Express Pipeeline系统链接到圣路易斯 - 当时它说有存在该地区没有新的天然气需求，接下来的20年需求平坦。

The ruling "shows when FERC cuts corners with its analysis, it puts its decisions and the investments made in reliance on those decisions at substantial risk,” said a statement by FERC Chairman Richard Glick, who dissented in the line's original 2018 approval.

Utility company Spire Inc. had sought arrangements with natural gas shippers, developers and others but got no responses. As a result, it entered into a so-called "precedent agreement" with its affiliate Spire Missouri for 87.5% of the pipeline’s capacity. Rather than for new capacity, the affiliate now uses the two-year-old pipeline instead of an older line to transport product. There was “plausible evidence of self-dealing,” the court said. The Missouri Public Service Commission was skeptical of the need for the project and asked FERC for a thorough review.

“The court was concerned with that,” says Natalie Karas, senior director and lead counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, which challenged FERC’s decision. The court made it clear that FERC’s order had serious deficiencies, she says. Congress in the Natural Gas Act said FERC should only approve projects that are for “public convenience and necessity,” Karas contends. “This case breathes new life into those words,” she says.

Spire said in a statement that it relied on established FERC precedent to build the pipeline, which has been fully operational since 2019. “But three years after approval it appears that reliable and critical energy access to 650,000 homes and business throughout the St. Louis region now could be in jeopardy,” it said.

Spire在2月份的Polar Vortex期间引用了该项目的本质，而中西部的其他部分则以供应和极高的成本挣扎。”新利18备用官网登录

The court sent the approval back to FERC to reconsider but questioned whether the agency could “rehabilitate” a decision with such serious deficiencies. The "ability to do so is not at all clear to us at this juncture,” the court said.

格里克（Glick）在最初的异议中说，记录中没有什么可以暗示需要拟议的管道。

FERC表示，根据《天然气法》，它具有平衡竞争利益的广泛酌处权，但法院表示，其裁决“可能不会完全不受根据。”法院说，在这种情况下，“ FERC未能平衡利益和成本”。新利18备用官网登录

EDF的Karas说：“服务的多个协议使管道开发人员在该项目的需求方面更加坚定。”

FERC目前正在审查其评估和批准州际管道的过程，包括对2月18日的回应，以寻求评论是否以及如何修改日期为1999年的政策。

EDF告诉FERC，由于采用了该政策，天然气市场和美国能源系统已经经历了重大变化，“并且正在发生更大的转变。”

EDF说，当前的过程反映了需求增长的历史性推定以及当时现有的供应限制的历史性观点。环保组织说：“大规模的变化已经连根拔起了这些长期以来的假设。”

美国天然气协会表示，FERC必须以1999年的政策为基础，该政策确保了能够不断发展和不断发展的天然气基础设施以满足不断变化的需求。它说，更新的政策可以“随着该国加速抵抗气候变化的努力，可以确定新管道的需求。”他说，在当前的能源过渡期间需要继续服务。

美国石油研究所告诉FERC，修订后的政策必须提供明确的方法，该方法使天然气行业能够继续提供可靠的供应以确保电网，并仍然是全球液化天然气市场的重要参与者。

fercsaid that after reviewing comments, it will determine whether to issue a proposed rulemaking.