Testimony on the Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership Proposed Replacement and Relocation of Line 5

Clients: The Environmental Law & Policy Center, The Michigan Climate Action Network, and the Bay Mills Indian Community

Author: Liz Stanton, PhD

September 2021

On behalf of The Environmental Law & Policy Center, The Michigan Climate Action Network, and the Bay Mills Indian Community, Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD filed testimony on the Enbridge Energy LP (Enbridge) application to replace and relocate a segment of an oil and natural gas pipeline (Line 5)that crosses the Straits of Mackinac into a tunnel underneath the Straits of Mackinac. Dr. Stanton found that Enbridge failed to consider a “no-action” alternative to replace the oil pipeline and that shutting down the existing line is not only feasible but would also likely have a positive impact on Michigan’s economy while accelerating the state’s transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Link to Testimony

Link to Michigan Radio coverage

Link to Bridge Michigan coverage

Link to News-Review coverage

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An analysis of the need for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Extension to Hampton Roads, Virginia

Client: Mothers Out Front

Liz Stanton, PhD, and Eliandro Tavares

September 2019

On behalf of Mothers Out Front, Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD, and Assistant Researcher Eliandro Tavares prepared a white paper that analyzed the need for the Hampton Roads spur of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The white paper concludes that: Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) has substantially overstated its annual peak demand growth forecasts; VNG has presented no evidence that any gas supply constraint could affect electric supply in the region; and any industrial gas curtailments in the Hampton Roads area appear to have been voluntary in exchange for price reductions.

Link to White Paper

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Analysis of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Project

Client: Appalachian Voices

Authors: Liz Stanton, PhD and Eliandro Tavares

July 2019

On behalf of Appalachian Voices, Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD and Assistant Researcher Eliandro Tavares prepared a report that uses publicly available data and documents to examine the need for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate project, concluding that neither the developer nor the gas utility have demonstrated the need for MVP Southgate. The report finds that:

• MVP LLC has not provided sufficient evidence of the need for MVP Southgate.

• PSNC’s forecasts of gas demands are higher than other publicly available forecasts for the region.

• Lower gas demand forecasts eliminate or delay the need for additional supply capacity.

• Cost-effective supply- and demand-side alternatives exist to new pipeline infrastructure.

Link to Report

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Comment on Transco's Assessment of Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions from NYC's Proposed NESE Pipeline

Client: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Author: Liz Stanton, PhD

July 2019

Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD, assisted the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in comments on Transco’s assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) expansion of its existing interstate pipeline to bring additional gas capacity to New York City and Long Island. Dr. Stanton concluded that Williams’ assessment rests on several faulty assumptions that overstate the emissions of alternatives to the pipeline, and that the evidence supplied by Transco does not support their claim that NESE would lower emissions.

Link to Comment (starting on pdf p.30)

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Atlantic Coast Pipeline: Economics and Manufacturing Jobs

Client: Natural Resources Defense Council

Rachel Wilson, Sagal Alisalad, Emrat Nur Marzan, and Bryndis Woods

December 2017

On behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Senior Researcher Rachel Wilson, Researcher Bryndis Woods, and Research Assistants Sagal Alisalad and Emrat Nur Marzan, prepared an Applied Economics Clinic report regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline had been planned to travel through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina and was intended to bring natural gas to markets in those states. Dominion Transmission, Inc., the leading percentage owner of the pipeline, made several arguments in favor of the project based on reports it commissioned from ICF International and Chmura Economics & Analytics. In this report, AEC staff examined the merit of each of these claims and found them to be unsupported based on available data.

Link to Report News Coverage

Link to Report

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Ratepayer Impacts of ConEd’s 20-Year Shipping Agreement on the Mountain Valley Pipeline

Client: Environmental Defense Fund

Rachel Wilson, Tyler Comings, and Liz Stanton, PhD

September 2017

On behalf of Environmental Defense Fund, Senior Researchers Rachel Wilson and Tyler Comings, along with Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD prepared an Applied Economics Clinic report to determine whether a 20-year contract for firm natural gas transportation on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), entered into by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (ConEd), would result in unjust and unreasonable costs to the utility's ratepayers. Ms. Wilson, Mr. Comings, and Dr. Stanton found that recent new and expanded natural gas pipeline capacity has caused natural gas prices between regions to equilibrate, and that any expected benefit of the MVP contract was disappearing at the time that ConEd signed the transportation agreement. Narrowing basis differentials for natural gas across regions turned a net present value ratepayer benefit of more than $1 billion into an anticipated $630 million cost given current natural gas pricing. Costs of the transportation contract will be paid by New York ratepayers, and the New York Public Service Commission should consider ConEd's ownership interest in the pipeline when evaluating the cost of the agreement.

Link to EDF article citing AEC Report

Link to Report

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