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FERC says it lacks authority and staff to permit carbon dioxide, hydrogen interstate pipelines
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Summary
Asked about language in a House reconciliation text to add CO2 and hydrogen permitting under the Natural Gas Act, the FERC Chairman said the agency currently lacks authority for hydrogen pipelines and would need additional expertise and resources to take on CO2/hydrogen permitting.
Asked whether FERC should take on permitting of interstate carbon dioxide and hydrogen pipelines, the Chairman said the commission does not currently have authority over hydrogen and would need to acquire expertise and additional resources to handle a new permitting workload.
At the press conference, Carlos of ENE News asked whether the Energy and Commerce reconciliation text that would amend the Natural Gas Act to insert carbon dioxide and hydrogen pipeline permitting would be appropriate for FERC. The Chairman replied that "we don't currently have first of all under hydrogen, we don't have authority," and added that "if they give us authority, then obviously we would have to have additional resources" and that FERC's Office of Energy Projects is already 'operating pretty lean.'
Context: FERC currently issues permits for interstate natural gas pipelines under the Natural Gas Act; it does not permit intrastate pipelines (state public utility commissions do). The Chairman said that some stakeholders advocate national permitting to avoid state-level holdups, citing cases such as Summit Carbon Solutions in the Midwest, but he said he is personally "biased towards the states" and reiterated that FERC's existing remit is interstate gas pipeline permitting.
What FERC said it could do: the Chairman said the agency could "go out and obtain the expertise," but that taking on CO2 or hydrogen pipeline permitting would require hiring or contracting for new technical capabilities and additional staff resources.
What happens next: any change would require congressional action or an explicit statutory grant of authority; the Chairman did not announce a FERC rulemaking or timeline.
