Above Photo:Â desmogblog.com
 Then FERC Approved Spectra’s Gas Pipelines
A business advocacy group lobbied for the reappointment of a federal energy commissioner while one of its own members sought approval for several projects from the same federal regulator, a DeSmog investigation has found.
In the past three years, natural gas infrastructure giant Spectra Energy has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval for a number of projects in the US Northeast.
During this time, regional pro-business lobbying group the New England Council, of which Houston-based Spectra Energy is a member, lobbied President Barack Obama and the US Senate for the reappointment of FERC CommissionerCheryl LaFleur to a second term.
A DeSmog investigation has found other instances suggesting an ongoing and exclusive relationship between LaFleur,NEC, and lobbyists working for Spectra Energy.
Spectra is a dues-paying member of the NEC which, according to its website, is an “alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations that promotes economic growth in the New England region.” The NEC has a lobbying arm and office in Washington, DC.
Also during this period, the NEC arranged at least two closed-door meetings between LaFleur and its energy industry members, including Spectra. These exclusive meetings were held in the offices of a multinational law firm that was hired by Spectra to represent it in a different environmental case. The most recent meeting was held in December 2015.
FERC has already approved two of Spectra’s projects in the region, while the other two are pending approval.
The NEC Lobbies for LaFleur
In early 2014, Spectra submitted to FERC an application for its Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project, a major capacity upgrade for the company’s existing Algonquin Pipeline carrying fracked gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York and into Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The project, which includes 37 new miles of pipeline and six compressor stations, has drawn fierce opposition from residents, grassroots organizations, politicians, and elected officials along its multi-state route and beyond.
Citing concerns about climate change and the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, opponents have also sounded the alarm over the proximity of the pipeline to the Indian Point nuclear plant in New York. Others have targeted the contentious new pipeline segment in the residential Boston neighborhood of West Roxbury, which passes near an active blasting quarry.
A recent campaign has begun targeting FERC directly, as activists accuse the commission of providing a “rubber stamp for the fossil fuel industry.”
A month following the submission of AIM’s application, NEC sent LaFleur a letter in strong support of the AIM project, urging her and the commission to approve the pipeline. Soon after, LaFleur, who was appointed to her first term as commissioner by President Obama in 2010, was up for reappointment. FERC commissioners, the highest energy regulators in the country, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
As the reappointment loomed, NEC lobbyists worked to convince Senate members to confirm her nomination for a second term.
According to a Senate lobbying disclosure document, the NEC had lobbied specifically for LaFleur’s reappointment beginning in April 2014, two months after Spectra officially filed a request for approval of the AIM. These lobbying expenses exceeded $40,000, the files reveal.