Commissioner James Danly Statement
October 13, 2022
CP17-20-001, CP17-21-002, CP18-7-001
I concur in the Commission’s decision to grant the request filed by Port Arthur LNG, LLC and Port Arthur Pipeline, LLC (jointly, Port Arthur) for a 50-month extension of time,[1] until June 18, 2028, to complete construction of and make available for service the Port Arthur LNG Terminal and the Louisiana Connector Project and Texas Connector Project authorized on April 18, 2019.[2]
I write separately to highlight one point. As today’s order recognizes, “[e]xtension of time proceedings are not an invitation to re-open the underlying dockets.”[3] Our inquiry when reviewing a request for extension of time is narrow—it is not an opportunity to revisit the determinations made in Natural Gas Act authorizations after orders have become final and unappealable.[4] There is thus no question of whether the public interest determination made in the Authorization Order remains valid. Instead, it is a question of whether there is good cause to grant the extension of time, and Port Arthur has indeed demonstrated good cause for the requested extension.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] See Port Arthur LNG, LLC, July 28, 2022 Request for Extension of Time.
[2] Port Arthur LNG, LLC, 167 FERC ¶ 61,052 (2019) (Authorization Order).
[3] Port Arthur LNG, LLC, 181 FERC ¶ 61,024, at P 12 (2022) (citation omitted).
[4] See Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage III, LLC, 179 FERC ¶ 61,087, at P 15 (2022) (“extension of time proceedings are not an invitation to re-open the dockets”) (citations omitted); see also Nat’l Fuel Gas Supply Corp., 179 FERC ¶ 61,226, at P 20 (2022) (“Rule 716 does not provide the Commission with additional authority to reopen the record underlying the Certificate Order here, where a final, non-appealable order has issued.”) (citations omitted); id. (Danly, Comm’r, concurring at P 5) (“Circumstances, no matter how extraordinary, cannot themselves grant jurisdiction where Congress has conferred no power. In the absence of authority provided by Congress, the Commission simply cannot revisit its public convenience and necessity determinations once a certificate order becomes final and unappealable.”).