While it is not uncommon for pipelines to u se contracts with affiliates to pass the public need test or for project opponents to challenge that need, limited demand growth and Spire STL's reliance on a single contract stands out, especially in a climate-conscious era of heightened scrutiny around pipeline development. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2018 certificate authorizing the pipeline project, the panel found that FERC did not adequately consider arguments that Spire STL's sole precedent agreement to deliver gas to affiliate Spire Missouri was not enough to establish public need. 'I'm hoping that as we move through the process, we can put the facts on the table that support the benefits of the pipeline, the criticality of the pipeline.' I don't sit on extra capacity just in case some court two years later shuts down the operation of a pipeline,' Carter said told S&P Global news reporters. The court's decision could lead to a shutdown of the pipeline, which went into service in November 2019.Д«ut Spire Missouri President Scott Carter, also Spire's COO of distribution operations, said that the pipe had played a crucial role in maintaining service in eastern Missouri during February's extreme cold snap, and that shutting it down could leave Spire Missouri unable to meet peak winter demand. The court sided with the Environmental Defense Fund, finding the group had 'identified plausible evidence of self-dealing' in Spire STL's reliance on affiliate contracts to show the pipe was necessary. A recent court decision found that federal regulators had not sufficiently scrutinized whether Spire STL demonstrated a valid market need for the project. Louis area, including to its affiliate gas utility, Spire Missouri Inc. Spire STL delivers Rocky Mountain and Appalachian natural gas to the St. If the region experiences a deep chill without access to the Spire STL Pipeline, Spire utility executives warn, hundreds of thousands of customers could lose service. 's Missouri gas utility is already looking to the next major cold snap. With this past winter's severe weather still top of mind, Spire Inc. Source: Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo//Moment via Getty Images Spire STL pipeline delivers Rocky Mountain and Appalachian natural gas to the St.

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