Pembroke Environmental Justice Coalition v. Illinois Commerce Commission

The court rejected arguments that broader public utility regulations should apply, emphasizing that the law was designed to streamline service expansion in low-income areas. It found that Nicor adequately considered public input, had the capacity to manage the project safely, and could finance it without harming customers. Concerns about environmental impact, safety violations, and conversion costs for residents were deemed outside the scope of the court’s review. The court also denied a rehearing request, finding no new, controlling evidence to justify reconsideration.

Community and environmental groups filed a petition for review in the Illinois Appellate Court challenging the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC’s) approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas pipeline in Pembroke Township, which the groups <a href="https://www.edf.org/media/community-groups-edf-ask-state-appeals-court-stop-pipeline-slated-go-through-historic-black">described</a> as “an historic Black farming community whose concerns were not considered in the approval process and who could be severely harmed by the pipeline.” Before the ICC, the petitioners <a href="https://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/P2021-0698/documents/320217">argued</a> that the project was “out of step” with State policy priorities of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use. They contended that even though the pipeline company claimed to be fulfilling “decades-long” efforts to bring natural gas to the area, the prior perception of natural gas as “a cost-effective and cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels was based on unknown or unacknowledged climate impacts, and before emissions reductions needed to avoid dangerous levels of warming were fully understood.” The petitioners stated: “Those perceptions have been disproven. Today, the policy of the State of Illinois is decarbonization and equitable acceleration of clean energy adoption.”