Infrastructure
Act and its 1947 amendments — supported the construction of $100 billion dollars and 18,195 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines between 2008 and 2020 that together equate to approximately 223 BCF/d of capacity. Ninety-seven percent of projects approved under the NGA during that time were approved within two years. The average time for constructing a large (>100 miles) interstate pipeline project from approval to in-service was 3.48 years — well less than a decade for what could be considered linear infrastructure development comparable to electric transmission. However, as the industry well knows, federal regulation is no panacea and the averages deceive, since project timelines have increased over time. After approval, many projects ran into strong opposition and litigation that dramatically impacted their cost and schedules — and for some led to cancellation. Issues that led litigation regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and PennEast Pipeline projects to the U.S. Supreme Court are the type of land use and regulatory jurisdictional issues that will most certainly impact future infrastructure projects irrespective of their emissions and renewables profiles.
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