HARRISBURG, Pa. — Coal-fired power plants, long an increasingly money-losing proposition in the U.S., are becoming more valuable now that the suddenly strong demand for electricity to run Big Tech’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications has set off a full-on sprint to find new energy sources.

President Donald Trump — who has pushed for U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market and suggested that coal can help meet surging power demand — is wielding his emergency authority to entice utilities to keep older coal-fired plants online and producing electricity.

While some utilities were already delaying the retirement of coal-fired plants, the scores of such plants that have been shut down in the past couple years — or will be shut down in the next couple years — are the object of growing interest from tech companies, venture capitalists, states and others competing for electricity.

That’s because they have a very attractive component: high-voltage lines connecting to the electricity grid that they aren’t using anymore and that a new power plant could use.

That ready-to-go connection could enable a new generation of power plants — gas, nuclear, wind, solar or even battery storage — to help meet the demand for new power sources more quickly.

For years, the bureaucratic nightmare around building new high-voltage power lines has ensnared efforts to get permits for such interconnections for new power plants, said John Jacobs, an energy policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center.

“They are very interested in the potential here,” he said. “Everyone sort of sees the writing on the wall for the need for transmission infrastructure, the need for clean, firm power, the difficulty with siting projects, and the value of reusing brownfield sites.”

Rising power demand, dying coal plants

Coincidentally, the pace of retirements of the nation’s aging coal-fired plants had been projected to accelerate at a time when electricity demand is rising for the first time in decades.

The Department of Energy, in a December report, said its strategy for meeting that demand includes reusing coal plants, which have been unable to compete with a flood of cheap natural gas while being burdened with tougher pollution regulations aimed at its comparatively heavy emissions of greenhouse gases.

There are federal incentives as well — tax credits and loan guarantees, for instance — that encourage the redevelopment of retired coal-fired plants into new energy sources.

Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which represents independent power plant owners, said he expects Trump’s executive orders will mean some coal-fired plants run longer than they would have — but that they are still destined for retirement.

Time is of the essence in getting power plants online.

Data center developers are reporting a yearlong wait in some areas to connect to the regional electricity grid. Rights-of-way approvals to build power lines can also be difficult to secure, given objections by neighbors who may not want to live near them.

Stephen DeFrank, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said he believes rising energy demand has made retiring coal-fired plants far more valuable.

That’s especially true now that the operator of the congested mid-Atlantic power grid has re-configured its plans to favor sites like retired coal-fired plants as a shortcut to meet demand, DeFrank said.

“That’s going to make these properties more valuable because now, as long as I’m shovel ready, these power plants have that connection already established, I can go in and convert it to whatever,” he said.

Gas, solar and more at coal power sites

In Pennsylvania, most conversions are likely to be natural gas because Pennsylvania sits atop the prolific Marcellus Shale reservoir, DeFrank said.

In Homer City, a coal-fired plant that had operated for 54 years recently saw its smokestacks and cooling towers demolished. The owners are planning to build a $10 billion natural gas production facility to power data centers on campus. It would be the nation’s third-largest power generator.

In states across the South, utilities are replacing retiring or retired coal units with gas. That includes a plant owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority; a Duke Energy project in North Carolina; and a Georgia Power plant.

The high-voltage lines at retired coal plants on the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey and Massachusetts were used to connect offshore wind turbines to electricity grids.

In Alabama, the site of a coal-fired plant shuttered in 2019, Plant Gorgas, will become home to Alabama Power’s first utility-scale battery energy storage plant.

Texas-based Vistra, meanwhile, is in the process of installing solar panels and energy storage plants at a fleet of retired and still-operating coal-fired plants it owns in Illinois, thanks in part to state subsidies approved there in 2021.

Don’t forget about the potential of nuclear

Nuclear is also getting a hard look.

In Arizona, lawmakers are advancing legislation to make it easier for three utilities there — Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power — to put advanced nuclear reactors on the sites of retiring coal-fired plants.

At the behest of Indiana’s governor, Purdue University studied how the state could attract a new nuclear power industry. In its November report, it estimated that reusing a coal-fired plant site for a new nuclear power plant could reduce project costs by between 7 percent and 26 percent.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, in a 2023 study before electricity demand began spiking, estimated that nuclear plants could cut costs from 15 percent to 35 percent by building at a retiring coal plant site, compared to building at a new site.

Even building next to the coal plant could cut costs by 10 percent by utilizing transmission assets, roads and buildings while avoiding some permitting hurdles, the center said.

That interconnection was a major driver for Terrapower when it chose to start construction in Wyoming on a next-generation nuclear power plant next to PacifiCorp’s coal-fired Naughton Power Plant.

The post Coal plant sites offer potential for AI, data growth in energy pivot appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By CLAIRE RUSH
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal regulators have approved the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest over the protest of environmental groups and top officials in West Coast states, who said it goes against the region’s plans to address climate change and could pose a wildfire risk.

The project, known as GTN Xpress, aims to expand the capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, which runs through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, by about 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave it the green light in a vote last week.

TC Energy plans to modify three compressor stations along the pipeline — in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon. Compressor stations help maintain the pressure and flow of gas over long distances in a pipeline.

Environmental groups criticized the decision.

In a statement, Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for environmental nonprofit Columbia Riverkeeper, said it represented a “rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas in the Northwest” and accused the energy agency of failing to listen to U.S. senators, governors, state attorneys general, tribes and members of the public.

Leonard said potential spills and explosions on the pipeline, which was built in the 1960s, would not only harm the environment but also present a heightened wildfire risk in the arid regions it passes through.

“An explosion of that level in eastern Washington or eastern Oregon would be catastrophic,” she said.

Leonard said Columbia Riverkeeper will appeal the federal regulators’ decision and submit a petition for a rehearing.

The pipeline belongs to TC Energy of Calgary, Canada — the same company behind the now-abandoned Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.

The company said the project is necessary to meet consumer demand and welcomed the decision in an emailed statement.

Environmentalists and officials opposed to the project have expressed concern about TC Energy’s safety record. Its Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline exploded in Strasburg, Virginia, in July and its existing Keystone pipeline spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of bitumen oil in Kansas last December.

The 1,377-mile pipeline runs from the Canadian border through a corner of Idaho and into Washington state and Oregon, connecting with a pipeline going into California. Oregon, along with Washington and California, have passed laws requiring utilities to transition to 100% clean electricity sources by 2040 and 2045, respectively.

Idaho’s Republican governor and Congress members have supported the project and said that imposing other states’ climate policies would be “misguided.”

After the vote, Washington’s Democratic governor and California’s Democratic attorney general condemned the decision. And the Democratic U.S. Senators from Washington and Oregon described the project as “incompatible with our climate laws” in a letter to the energy agency.

“GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels,” the senators said.

The attorneys general of the three states, citing the energy agency’s draft environmental impact statement for the project, said it would result in more than 3.47 million metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions per year for at least the next three decades.

The agency’s final environmental assessment issued last November revised that number downward by roughly half in calculations contested by environmental groups. This is partly because some of the project’s gas would be delivered to Tourmaline, a Canadian natural gas producer. The assessment said it wasn’t clear what the end use of the gas delivered to Tourmaline would be, leading it to conclude that the company’s downstream emissions — those stemming from consumers — weren’t “reasonably foreseeable.”

The energy agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips, reiterated its stance after last week’s vote.

“There was no evidence presented that this project would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters. “The commission determined that this project was needed and therefore we support its approval.”

In its final assessment, the federal agency also said the compressor stations were in non-forested areas with low to moderate fire hazard and concluded the project “would result in limited adverse impacts on the environment.”

“Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term,” the federal agency said.

The agency recommended certain steps, such as requiring the company to train its personnel and contractors on environmental mitigation measures before any construction begins.

But environmental groups say the assessment didn’t adequately address the harm caused by the project, including by fracking to obtain the natural gas that flows through the pipeline.

Fracking is a technique used by the energy industry to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals. It has been criticized by climate and environment groups for increasing emissions of methane, an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas.

The post Feds OK natural gas pipeline expansion in Pacific Northwest over environmentalist protests appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The city of Eugene has banned natural gas infrastructure in new low-rise residential construction.

A special meeting was held Monday to decide if the issue should be sent to citizens for a vote. The council discussed whether to put the issue on the May 16 ballot, but that motion did not pass. A motion was then made to move forward with the proposed ordinance, which was approved by the council.

The city council held public hearings in November and December 2022 on the proposal to prohibit fossil fuel infrastructure in new low-rise residential buildings. Those include single-family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage clusters, multifamily buildings, and any other residential structures three stories or shorter. However, a mixed-occupancy building featuring commercial use is not included.

According to the ordinance, the city will deny an application for a permit or suspend an issued permit that does not comply with the mandate. The ordinance will apply to building permit applications submitted on or after June 30.

As for the Portland-metro area, Multnomah County in 2021 passed a resolution that prohibits the use of fossil fuels in new and remodeled county buildings. The city of Milwaukie this past December passed one resolution to electrify city-owned buildings and another to electrify new buildings.

Last year, Portland City Council approved the Climate Emergency Workplan, which outlines 43 priority actions the city must take in the next three years to meet 2030 and 2050 carbon emission reduction goals. With these priority actions, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is not currently pursuing legislation to ban natural-gas hookups in new construction, Public Information Manager Magan Reed stated in an email. The bureau’s near-term capacity is focused on decarbonizing existing buildings.

“We recognize that the list of actions any organization could take to meet carbon emission reduction goals is nearly unending, but the capacity to address every single aspect of climate action at one time simply doesn’t exist,” Reed stated. “With extensive community engagement and scientific research, the 43 priorities listed in the Climate Emergency Workplan is where the vast majority of resources and efforts will be focused at least for the next three years. As we look to the next iteration of a formal Climate Action Plan for the city, continued community feedback will be essential in the decision-making process.”

The post New residential natural gas blocked in Eugene appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two people have together been awarded $10.4 million at trial after a jury found they suffered hearing loss and emotional trauma when they narrowly escaped a natural gas explosion in Portland.

Lawyers for gas leak investigator Eric Rader and stylist Kristen Prentice said both suffered life-altering changes, including post-traumatic stress disorder, after an excavator hit a buried gas pipeline Oct. 19, 2016.

Rader had found high levels of gas inside a corner bagel shop and warned firefighters to flee shortly before the blast obliterated the three-story commercial building and gutted a neighboring structure.

“The reading on his gas meter indicated extreme risk,” said Greg Kafoury, the attorney for Rader and Prentice. “Rader notified nearby first responders, saving many.”

Prentice was about to enter the salon next door when firefighters alerted her to the danger. Both took shelter nearby.

Rader and Prentice are now permanently afflicted with hearing loss and painful sensitivity to loud noises, Kafoury said. Their lawsuits were tried jointly in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

On Thursday, a jury awarded $6.5 million to Prentice and $3.9 million to Rader — the largest payout to date over the blast. Jurors found contractor Loy Clark Pipeline Co. liable for both of the workers’ medical expenses and lost earnings.

Each award included $2.3 million in punitive damages, though about 70% of that money will be directed to a state crime victims fund under Oregon law.

Loy Clark has been sued at least ten times over the explosion. A review of court records shows that a handful of lawsuits have been settled for undisclosed amounts, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Two other lawsuits — filed separately by Portland Bagelworks owners Kimberly and Richard Bartell and Art Work Rebels tattoo business owners Erin and Jason Kundell — are set for trial next year.

Chiropractor Scott Shephard was awarded $232,500 last year in a jury trial.

In a statement, Loy Clark lawyer Mark Scheer said the company apologizes to everyone affected by the explosion, but denied that its work crew acted recklessly or without care for the safety of others.

“The crew on this project made a terrible mistake, and Loy Clark accepts responsibility,” Scheer said.

Scheer said the company has since added safety protocols and cooperated with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission’s investigation into the explosion.

Kafoury said the investigation resulted in a fine that was suspended.

Mark McDougal, who litigated the case with Kafoury, said a pipeline safety expert testified during the trial that Loy Clark’s workers ignored paint markings showing where the pipeline was buried and didn’t follow proper checklists.

The post Pair awarded $10.4M after excavator hit buried gas line appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

BERLIN (AP) — The International Energy Agency says high prices for natural gas and supply fears due to the war in Ukraine will slow the growth in demand for the fossil fuel in the coming years.

In a report published Tuesday, the Paris-based agency forecast global demand for natural gas will rise by 140 billion cubic meters between 2021 and 2025. That’s less than half the increase of 370 bcm seen in the previous five-year period, which included the pandemic downturn.

The revised forecast is mostly due to expectations of slower economic growth rather than buyers switching from gas to coal, oil or renewable energy. While the burning of gas emits less planet-warming carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, methane released during the extraction process is a significant driver of climate change.

“Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine is seriously disrupting gas markets that were already showing signs of tightness,” said Keisuke Sadamori, the agency’s director of energy markets and security.

Efforts by European Union countries to wean themselves off Russian gas will lead to a fall in pipeline exports from Russia to the 27-nation bloc of 55-75 percent, the IEA said. At the same time the EU’s purchases of liquefied natural gas have diverted deliveries intended for other regions, such as Asia, which is predicted to account for half the demand growth by 2025.

“We are now seeing inevitable price spikes as countries around the world compete for LNG shipments, but the most sustainable response to today’s global energy crisis is stronger efforts and policies to use energy more efficiently and to accelerate clean energy transitions,” said Sadamori.

The agency’s quarterly report said capacity is partly constrained by a slump in gas infrastructure investments in the mid-2010s and pandemic-related construction delays. Recent new investments are not likely to affect gas supplies until after 2025, it said.

The post IEA: High prices, uncertainty will slow growth in gas demand appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press

SALEM – A Canadian energy company on Wednesday quit plans to build a controversial natural gas pipeline and marine export terminal on the southern Oregon coast after failing to obtain all necessary state permits.

Opponents of the Jordan Cove project, which would have produced the first West Coast liquefied natural gas export terminal in the lower 48 states, rejoiced at the news. The marine export terminal would have been located at Coos Bay, with a 230-mile-long feeder pipeline crossing southern Oregon.

Many landowners, Indian tribes and environmentalists had objected, saying the Pembina Pipeline Corp. project would spoil the environment and contribute to climate change by producing greenhouse gases. In 2019, protesters filled the Oregon State Capitol and occupied the governor’s office until they were hauled away by state police.

“It’s been almost two decades of fighting this project, and it is incredible to hear that all of that work has paid off, and our homes, our waterways, our climate are going to be protected from this project,” said Allie Rosenbluth of Rogue Climate, a southern Oregon-based group advocating for a transition to renewable energy.

Supporters of the project to ship U.S. and Canadian natural gas to Asia said it would create jobs and help the economy. The Coos Bay City Council last year approved dredging part of the bay to increase the width and depth of the shipping channel.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project in March 2020, while Donald Trump was president. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown threatened to go to court to stop the project if its developers didn’t obtain every permit required from state and local agencies.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality denied a water quality certification for the project, and the Department of State Lands refused to grant another extension to Calgary-based Pembina to file documents in its application for a permit to dredge sediment out of Coos Bay.

Pembina said Wednesday that federal regulators took another look this year, and on Jan. 19, the commission determined Oregon had not waived its certification authority under the Clean Water Act. Furthermore, on Feb. 8, the U.S. Department of Commerce sustained Oregon’s objection under the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Donald Sullivan, manager and associate general counsel of the Jordan Cove Energy Project, told the commission in a notification Wednesday that Pembina has reviewed the prospects for obtaining the permits in the future and “decided not to move forward with the project.”

Sullivan’s notification asked the commission to cancel its permit.

Deb Evans owns land in rural Klamath County that would have been crossed by the pipeline.

“It’s a good day for landowners,” she said.

Evans and her family have been fighting the project for years, fearing the loss of part of their wooded property, where they have a timber mill, to eminent domain.

“We’re super pumped about the news that we got today from our attorneys, and it’s been a long time coming,” she said.

Evans was worried about fire danger increasing as a result of the pipeline, which would have crossed almost a half-mile of their property. She also cited risks to the environment.

The chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council, Don Gentry, said the decision by Pembina to drop the project “is a significant relief for our members who have been so concerned about the impacts.”

The post Liquefied natural gas development abandoned appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — Missed deadlines for permits for the development of a major West Coast liquified natural gas pipeline and export terminal are adding to questions about whether the project will go forward.

Jefferson Public Radio reports the environmental nonprofit Rogue Climate issued a statement saying the Jordan Cove Energy Project backed by Canadian energy company Pembina has missed four land-use permit deadlines this summer, the most recent of which expired Aug. 11.

A Medford attorney who has represented pipeline opponents, Tonia Moro, said it leads them to possibly interpret that they’re moving away from this project altogether.

A spokesperson for the energy company did not respond to a request for comment.

Moro said reapplying for these permits would be a significant step back in the regulatory process.

“By giving up these permits they’re giving up quite an investment into the regulatory process itself,” she says.

In April Pembina said in a federal appeals court filing in Washington, D.C., that it was “pausing” the gas export project as well as the pipeline.

Jordan Cove would be the first such LNG overseas export terminal in the lower 48 states. The proposed 230-mile feeder pipeline would begin in Malin, in southwest Oregon, and end at the city of Coos Bay on the rural Oregon coast, crossing through four southern Oregon counties.

The post Liquified natural gas project misses permit deadlines appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — A major West Coast liquified natural gas pipeline and export terminal is officially on pause after state reversals of two of its dredging permits.

Jordan Cove Energy Project manager and associate general counsel, Donald Sullivan, filed a letter last Tuesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission citing a list of state permit denials that prevent the project from moving ahead despite a federal approval from the agency, The Herald and News reported.

Sullivan wrote that the applicants have decided to pause the development of the project while the effect of these decisions is assessed.

Jordan Cove would be the first such LNG overseas export terminal in the lower 48 states. The proposed 230-mile feeder pipeline would begin in Malin, in southwest Oregon, and end at the city of Coos Bay on the rural Oregon coast, crossing through four southern Oregon counties.

The letter also requested that the U.S. regulatory agency withdraw its consultation requests with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service on Jordan Cove’s behalf “to conserve the resources of the Commission and other operating agencies.”

Earlier this month, Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals reversed the project’s permits to dredge in Coos Bay, issued by Coos County and the City of Coos Bay, on grounds that the company had not adequately justified why the coastal areas in question, zoned for conservation use, needed to be converted to vessel navigation zones. The board has either remanded or completely reversed eight of the company’s needed local permits in the past year.

In January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission upheld Oregon’s denial of a project permit under the Clean Water Act. In February, the Department of Commerce sustained Oregon’s objection to the project under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Sullivan mentioned these setbacks in last week’s letter.

Southern Oregon tribes, environmentalists, many anglers and coastal residents have opposed the pipeline since 2006.

Allie Rosenbluth, campaigns director for Rogue Climate, said the developments are encouraging but that Jordan Cove’s possession of a permit from the federal commission still allows it to seize land under eminent domain, even though it can’t yet begin construction.

The state, area tribes, Rogue Climate and other organizations are challenging the federal approval in court to strip Jordan Cove of its ability to take private land. A judge is expected to make a decision on that in June.

Though the latest developments likely mean that Jordan Cove is all but laid to rest, Rosenbluth said the project’s opponents want it gone completely.

Canadian pipeline company “Pembina (Pipeline) needs to see the writing on the wall and cancel this project for good so that our communities can move on to building jobs in clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable fisheries and agriculture,” she said.

The post Natural gas terminal plans in Oregon on pause appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — Federal authorities on Monday affirmed the state of Oregon’s finding that a proposed major West Coast liquified natural gas pipeline and export terminal is not consistent with its coastal zone management plans.

Jordan Cove‘s Canadian backers, Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp., had appealed the state’s finding to the U.S. Commerce Department. The company hoped the Trump Administration would override the state’s federally delegated authority to determine if projects are consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declined, saying the company had failed to show that the project is consistent with the law. Pembina didn’t immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.

It’s the latest hurdle the $10 billion terminal and pipeline project have encountered. On Jan. 19, federal regulators upheld the state’s earlier decision against granting the project a clean water certification. The state has also denied a necessary dredging permit for the project. Without those approvals, the project, which has been in the works for over 15 years, cannot move forward.

Jordan Cove would be the first such LNG overseas export terminal in the lower 48 states. The proposed 230-mile feeder pipeline would begin in Malin, in southwest Oregon, and end at the city of Coos Bay on the rural Oregon coast.

Project opponents cheered Monday’s decision.

“Pembina’s last-ditch effort to override Oregon’s authority to stop Jordan Cove LNG has failed,” Allie Rosenbluth, campaigns director at Rogue Climate, said in an emailed statement.

Pembina could reapply to the state for both its clean water and coastal zone certifications, although it’s not clear it would get different outcomes.

The post Feds uphold Oregon denial of permit for natural gas terminal appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Plans for a major West Coast liquified natural gas pipeline and export terminal have hit a snag with federal regulators after a years-long legal battle that has united tribes, environmentalists and a coalition of residents on Oregon’s rural southern coast against the proposal.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that energy company Pembina could not move forward with the proposal without a key clean water permit from the state of Oregon. The U.S. regulatory agency gave its tentative approval to the pipeline last March as long as it secured the necessary state permits, but the Canadian pipeline company has been unable to do so.

It had appealed to the commission over the state’s clean water permit, arguing that Oregon had waived its authority to issue a clean water certification for the project and therefore its denial of the permit was irrelevant.

But the commission found instead that Pembina had never requested the certification and that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality “could not have waived its authority to issue certification for a request it never received.”

The ruling was hailed as a major victory by opponents of Jordan Cove, which would be the first such LNG overseas export terminal in the lower 48 states. The proposed 230-mile feeder pipeline would begin in Malin, in southwest Oregon, and end at the city of Coos Bay on the rural Oregon coast.

Jordan Cove did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment and it was unclear what next steps the project would take.

Opposition to the pipeline has brought together southern Oregon tribes, environmentalists, anglers and coastal residents since 2006.

“Thousands of southern Oregonians have raised their voices to stop this project for years and will continue to until the threat of Jordan Cove LNG is gone for good,” said Hannah Sohl, executive director of Rogue Climate.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who has opposed the project, said in a statement on Twitter that she was pleased with the ruling.

“At every stage of the regulatory process, I have insisted that the Jordan Cove LNG project must meet Oregon’s rigorous standards for protecting the environment, or it cannot move forward,” she wrote.

The Trump administration had supported energy export projects and in particular Jordan Cove. It had proposed streamlining approval of gas pipelines and other energy projects by limiting states’ certification authorities under the U.S. Clean Water Act.

The post Natural gas terminal plans in Oregon hit snag over permit appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.