GDOT denies Palmetto Pipeline application, company likely to appeal
Project has been met with pushback from some communities, environmentalists
- Kinder Morgan
The Georgia Department of Transportation cut Kinder Morgan Inc.’s pipeline dreams short this week, putting a temporary halt to a project that has prompted pushback from environmentalists and some communities along the proposed Southeast Georgia route.
Kinder Morgan Inc., which bills itself as North America’s largest energy infrastructure company, applied for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in February. The certificate is required to move ahead with the construction of the firm’s 210-mile petroleum pipeline dubbed the “Palmetto Pipeline.” The proposal has been met with staunch opposition from some communities, environmentalists, and elected officials.
GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry rejected Kinder Morgan’s proposal to move ahead with the petroleum-pumping pipeline that would run through Southeast Georgia near the coast and into South Carolina. McMurry says Kinder Morgan had not proven its Palmetto Pipeline proposal to be a necessary or efficient. He added the company did not provide evidence of any inadequacy with the current system.
Kinder Morgan’s attorney Jonathan Chally cited 2010 data from The Motor Use Fuel Tax in Georgia: Collection Efficiency, Trends, and Projects to purport that residents live in a “pipeline constrained Georgia.” He also says Palmetto Pipeline LLC’s proposal suggested their plans could yield more affordable gas.
“The increased volume that the Palmetto Pipeline will deliver to terminal markets will foster competition with sources for petroleum products and serve to decrease prices for these products throughout the region,” Chally says.
Not so, McMurry says.
“There is no evidence that the pipeline would serve to reduce the price of fuel in the region,” McMurry says. “In fact, Palmetto notes in its May 6, 2015 Second Supplement to its application that the pipeline will have no influence over prices.”
McMurry also says, citing federal data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Kinder Morgan’s claims that Georgia is “pipeline constrained” were based on outdated evidence. He noted that cars are becoming increasingly fuel efficient.
”...Motor gasoline consumption in the transportation sector will decline as a result of a 70% increase in the average efficiency of on-road light-duty vehicles,” McMurry says, quoting from the EIA projections. “This more than offsets projected growth in vehicle miles traveled.”
Kinder Morgan Products Pipelines President Ron McClain says the company will appeal the decision in the near future.
“We plan to pursue all available options to move forward with the project,” he says. “We believe that we have more than adequately demonstrated that this project is in the best interests of Georgia’s consumers, as it will result in lower costs and provide safer transportation of refined petroleum products to many areas in the Southeast.”