Sept 9 (Reuters) - The Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) applied on Friday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a temporary emergency certificate to continue operating its new $1 billion natural gas project running through five mid-Atlantic states after the regulator's approval was vacated.

In July, a U.S. appeals court said the FERC should have better assessed the risk of significant greenhouse gas emissions, throwing out its "arbitrary and capricious" approval of the Regional Energy Access Expansion Project.

The temporary certificate is necessary to keep Transco, a unit of Williams Cos (WMB.N) , opens new tab, running its facilities until the FERC issues an order on remand from the July 30 decision by the court.

The project is already partially in service. The FERC approved the first phase on an interim basis in October 2023. In June, Williams sought permission to put more of the project already under construction into service by July 1.

A temporary certificate of public convenience and necessity is needed in order to prevent an emergency caused by the sudden loss of over 2,000,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas pipeline transportation capacity in the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S., the company said.

Williams designed Regional Energy Access to help meet rising gas demand and ease supply constraints affecting customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The company said the project, one of the biggest under construction in the U.S. Northeast, will provide enough gas to serve 4.4 million homes annually.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/transco-seeks-temporary-certificate-keep-operating-mid-atlantic-natgas-project-2024-09-09/