In re Enbridge Energy, L.P.

A Minnesota administrative law judge recommended that the Public Utilities Commission grant a certificate of need for a “replacement” oil pipeline but only if the Commission also required in-trench replacement. The applicant sought to abandon the existing line in place and build a new pipeline that would require a new pipeline corridor for approximately 50% of its route. The ALJ expressed concern that abandonment of the existing line and creation of the new corridor “leaves open the possibility of thousands of miles of … pipelines someday being abandoned in-place when they are no longer economically useful,” particularly “in a carbon-conscious world moving away from fossil fuels.” The ALJ’s decision also summarized the greenhouse gas analysis for the pipeline and found that the pipeline did not support Minnesota’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals, but the ALJ’s ultimate recommendation did not turn on those issues.