CP22-21
`
`The Honorable Willie Phillips
`Chairman
`Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
`888 First Street, N.E. 888 First Street, N.E.
`Washington, D.C. 20426
`
`The Honorable Mark Christie
`Commissioner
`Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
`888 First Street, N.E.
`Washington, D.C. 20426
`
`The Honorable Alison Clements
`Commissioner
`Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
`888 First Street, N.E.
`Washington, D.C. 20426
`
`The Honorable David Rosner
`Commissioner
`Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
`888 First Street, N.E.
`Washington, D.C. 20426
`
`June 26, 2024
`Dear Chairman Phillips, Commissioner Christie, Commissioner Clements and Commissioner
`Rosner,
`I write urging you to deny Venture Global LNG’s application for a certificate of public
`convenience and necessity to construct and operate the Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) Liquefied Natural
`Gas (LNG) export terminal because it goes against the public interest. CP2 will raise energy
`costs on American households and manufacturers1, decimate local industries2, harm communities
`that are already overburdened with pollution and worsen the climate crisis.
`Since 2018, U.S. LNG exports have more than tripled and enough new projects have already
`been authorized to almost triple today’s volumes.3 LNG exports tether U.S. gas prices to the
`global market, creating price volatility and rising prices on American households. The
`Commission itself has found that “continued growth in net exports, including from including
`from liquefied [sic] natural gas (LNG) export facilities, LNG export facilities, will place
`additional pressure on natural gas prices.”4 The Energy Information Administration found that
`“higher LNG exports create a tighter domestic natural gas market… increasing domestic natural
`gas prices.”5 Analysis from Energy Innovation has found that “approving pending LNG export
`
`1 https://www.ieca-us.org/wp-content/uploads/04.17.24_LNG-Exports-Do-Impact-U.S.-Prices.pdf
`2 https://www.desmog.com/2024/03/02/cameron-louisiana-lng-calcasieu-pass-fishermen/
`3 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/04/understanding-liquefied-natural-gas-exports/
`4 2022-2023 Winter Assessment, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, https://www.ferc.gov/media/report-
`2022-2023-winter-assessment
`5 AEO2023 Issues in Focus: Effects of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on the U.S. Natural Gas Market May 2023,
`Energy Information Administration https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/IIF_LNG/pdf/LNG_Issue_in_Focus.pdf
`
` 2024-00043
`
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`Page 2
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`terminals would increase expenditures on natural gas by U.S. households, businesses, and
`industry by $11-18 billion per year, with the largest burdens falling on low-income households.”6
`The Natural Gas Act (NGA) was enacted “to protect consumers against exploitation at the hands
`of natural gas companies."7 To do that the NGA provides the Commission authority to deny an
`application for an LNG export facility if the Commission “finds that the proposed exportation or
`importation will not be consistent with the public interest.”8 The Supreme Court has held that the
`“the principal purpose of those Acts was to encourage the orderly development of plentiful
`supplies of electricity and natural gas at reasonable prices.”9 10 There is no doubt that increasing
`LNG exports undermines the purpose found by the Supreme Court. Increasing prices on
`American households to ship LNG to China11 and other countries is clearly not in the public
`interest.
`The Supreme Court also found that the National Gas Act provides “subsidiary purposes” and
`explicitly mentions “conservation and environmental questions” as two.12 The Commission
`recognizes this in its strategic plan when it identifies overseeing “environmental matters related
`to natural gas and hydrogen electricity projects and other matters” as part of what it does.13
`CP2 will export 3.96 billion cubic feet of gas per day and it is being proposed in a community
`that is already suffering from the impacts of facilities. In just 18 months of operation, the
`neighboring Calcasieu Pass facility, operated by Venture Global LNG, exposed the surrounding
`community to dangerous air pollution well in excess of permit limits in over 130 incidents.14
`Some of those incidents lasted more than a week.15 Local fishermen have reported a dramatic
`impact on their livelihoods.16 CP2 will have lifecycle annual greenhouse gas emissions
`equivalent to 46 coal-fired power plants.17 CP2 is incompatible with environmental protection or
`a livable planet and is not in the public interest.
`
`6 https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Consumer-Cost-Impact-Of-Completing-Pending-LNG-
`Export-Projects_2.2.24-1.pdf
`7 Sunray Mid-Continent Oil Co. v. Federal Power Com. 364 US 137
`8 Natural Gas Act, 15 USC § 717b
`9 NAACP v. FPC, 425 U.S. 662 (1976)
`10 While I disagree with the Supreme Court reading Federal Power Act’s purpose to “assur[e] an abundant supply of
`electric energy throughout the United States with the greatest possible economy and with regard to the proper
`utilization and conservation of natural resources” into the National Gas Act and believe that the Commission
`should use a more holistic public interest determination for all gas infrastructure, if the Commission is going to use
`this purpose when permitting interstate pipelines it should use it in a similar fashion when evaluating LNG export
`terminals.
`11 https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Liquified_Cash_Report_2024_final.pdf
`12 NAACP v. FPC, 425 U.S. 662 (1976).
`13FERC FY22-26 Strategic Plan, https://ferc.gov/media/ferc-fy22-26-strategic-plan
`14 https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2023-07-25/amid-expansion-plans-venture-global-lng-plant-faces-
`compliance-order-after-100-violations
`15 https://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view?doc=13882440
`16 https://www.desmog.com/2024/03/02/cameron-louisiana-lng-calcasieu-pass-fishermen/
`17 https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2024/06/ferc-set-issue-decision-cp2-lng-june-meeting
`
`

`

`The Commission’s decision on CP2 will have an important impact on US households and US
`climate commitments. I urge you to put the needs of public interest above the profits of oil and
`gas companies and deny this harmful project.
`Sincerely,
`
`Page 3
`
`Jeffrey A. Merkley
`United States Senator
`
`