The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld state approval for Florida-based NTE Energy to build a $700 million, 650-MW gas-fired power plant and dismissed opponents’ claim that regulators should not have approved the project without also considering environmental impacts of necessary upgrades to a feeder natural gas pipeline.
法院于9月28日裁定，康涅狄格州选址委员会适当拒绝考虑在权衡项目的公共利益时向拟议工厂安装天然气管道的环境影响。
While a lower court had also found the council was not required to consider environmental effects of the pipeline, two high court judges did not support the three-member majority's vote.
该工厂是在该州与罗德岛州东部边界的杀手镇提议的，用于公用事业所有者Eversource。
About 2.5 miles of an existing pipeline running through wetlands would have to be upgraded to expand its volume to serve the power plant, but the upgrades have not been proposed and details are not available.
The court rejected opponents’ claims that the siting council improperly segmented the generating plant from the pipeline to avoid a comprehensive review of the total project’s overall environmental impact. The lower court acknowledged that the two are “intertwined” and the power plant can’t function without the pipeline but noted that line upgrades also will need council review.
Judges said St. Augustine-based NTE must develop a plan to restore the site if pipeline upgrades are not approved but plant construction begins.
Opponents argued that Eversource could ask for a declaratory ruling from the council that the pipeline would not have a substantial adverse environmental effect and not need its approval.
高等法院根据州法律裁定，该理事会需要仅考虑工厂与其他“现有”设施的环境影响，而不是不存在的设施的影响。法院多数派说：“我们认识到，作为纯粹的实际问题，理事会不能考虑未来项目的实际环境影响，其性质和范围是不确定的，甚至尚未提出。”
但是该裁决还说，法律并不意味着理事会必须忽略拟议的工厂将取决于未来的另一个设施，这种设施可能会产生严重的不利环境影响。它补充说，监管机构可以发现该工厂的利益“完全投机”，因为“很有可能未来第二次未来的设施可能不批准”。
The law also does not prohibit the council from considering the two proposals together, the high court said. The two dissenting justices said the council should have used its discretion to consider the potential environmental impact of the future gas pipeline.
NTE在2016年提出了该工厂，并于2019年获得了州批准，并计划在2020年投入运营。
总部位于康涅狄格州格拉斯顿伯里（Glastonbury）的Gemma Power Systems在2020年被选为工厂EPC承包商。其合同价值未披露。该公司在ENR的前400名承包商名单上排名第329，在20新利18备用20年收入中报告了2.681亿美元。该工厂的动力火车合同已授予三菱日立动力系统美洲。
如果建造的杀人项目将是自2018年以来在康涅狄格州建造的首个主要天然气厂。
玛丽·米勒（Mary Miller）是对手集团（Atorney）的玛丽·米勒（Mary Miller），而不是另一家发电厂，他说：“很高兴法院鼓励所有允许当局在时代，甚至可能几年的所有许可当局对[管道扩展]问题进行全面且公平的考虑。，“她补充说”仍然认为该管道扩展是严重的威胁，并将继续竭尽所能保护其预期的道路上的宝贵环境资源。”
