In re Enbridge Energy, L.P.

On November 21, 2018, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission denied petitions for rehearing of the Commission’s order granting a certificate of need for the replacement of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 crude oil pipeline. The Commission granted the certificate of need in a September 5, 2018 order, rejecting concerns raised by an administrative law judge about the replacement pipeline’s route, which would abandon the old pipeline in place.

In an order granting the certificate of need for the replacement of the Enbridge Energy Line 3 crude oil pipeline, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rejected concerns raised by an administrative law judge about the replacement pipeline’s route, which would abandon the old pipeline in place. The Commission found that the consequences of granting the certificate of need would be more favorable than those of denying the certificate if the project were modified to require a removal program allowing landowners to choose to have the existing pipeline removed where feasible. In a discussion of potential climate change impacts in its September order, the Commission concluded that the project’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions would be “a significant consequence” but that the environmental costs did not result directly from the project but from “the continued demand for crude oil to produce refined products used by consumers.” The Commission found that record evidence did not support a conclusion that denial of the certificate of need would significantly reduce demand for crude oil. As a condition of the granting of the certificate of need, Enbridge must purchase renewable energy credits to offset the incremental increase in nonrenewable energy consumed by the project.

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