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Second federal judge orders temporary reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees fired by the Trump administration; U.S., Canada political tension could affect Maine summer tourism; Report: Incarceration rates rise in MS, U.S. despite efforts at reform; MI study: HBCU students show better mental health, despite challenges.

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Trump administration faces legal battles on birthright citizenship; the arrest of a Palestinian activist sparks protests over free speech. Conservationists voice concerns about federal job cuts impacting public lands, and Ohio invests in child wellness initiatives.

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Farmers worry promised federal reimbursements aren't coming while fears mount that the Trump administration's efforts to raise cash means the sale of public lands, and rural America's shortage of doctors has many physicians skipping retirement.

Critics Say Unnecessary Pipelines Will Cost WV Consumers

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Monday, September 19, 2016   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Huge gas pipelines now seeking approval aren't needed but will make utility rates spike, according to their critics.

Federal regulators have issued a preliminary Environmental Impact Statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.2 billion project that would run 300 miles across West Virginia and Virginia. Joe Lovett, executive director of Appalachian Mountain Advocates, said it's one of six similar lines proposed to carry Marcellus and Utica gas to eastern markets. Even though they're not needed, he said, the pipeline builders and utilities are allowed to pass along their costs plus a hefty guaranteed profit.

"So, it's a double hit to ratepayers," Lovett said. "It's a total scam, and those rates will be passed along to ratepayers. So, both of these pipelines are going to raise your utility bills."

A spokeswoman for the pipeline said two years already have been spent planning and developing the pipeline, and hundreds of adjustments have been made to protect the public interest. The companies have argued that the projects are being built to meet expected demand in eastern Virginia and the Carolinas.

Lovett said regulators allow pipeline developers to claim costs plus a guaranteed 14 percent profit - and that's separate from the 10 percent or 11 percent assured profit for the utility that buys the gas. He said costs and profit for the MVP, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and others would be shifted to consumers, who have little choice but to pay it. He added that a study by Synapse Energy Economics found enough existing pipeline capacity to supply Virginia and the Carolinas through 2030.

"Synapse determined that neither the Mountain Valley nor the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are necessary to meet the needs of getting gas produced in West Virginia or Pennsylvania to market," Lovett said.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has said it found "limited adverse environmental impacts, with the exceptions of impacts on forest," from the MVP. Lovett disputed this, and said it's a mistake for FERC to consider each pipeline project separately. He's convinced it's likely to cause overbuilding - at the expense of consumers, landowners and the environment.

"So, as long as FERC continues to analyze pipelines in isolation," he said, "it can't make a fair determination about whether they're necessary and what the alternatives are to those."

The preliminary EIS for the Mountain Valley Pipeline is online at ferc.gov. The Synapse study is at abralliance.org.


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