PennEast Pipeline officials were granted a two-year extension from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to complete the construction of pipeline project facilities.
The announcement for the extension was delivered on Feb. 20.
On Jan. 19, 2018, FERC officials originally authorized PennEast to construct those project facilities for the pipeline by Jan. 19, 2020, within two years of FERC’s issued order. But, due to several setbacks, PennEast officials requested an extension until Jan. 19, 2022.
FERC is a federal independent agency that regulates the interstate transportation of electricity, natural gas and oil.
The construction of the 116-mile long natural gas pipeline is a $1 billion project from Pennsylvania into New Jersey.
Over the course of the last year, PennEast faced several setbacks in the New Jersey portion of the pipeline.
In November, the company made the decision to appeal its federal appeals case to the United States Supreme Court.
The decision came in light of a November ruling by Third Circuit Court of Appeals, denying PennEast’s request to rehear a case concerning the condemning of 42 parcels of New Jersey state-owned land for PennEast’s pipeline project.
Due to that denial and opinion by the third circuit, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection also denied the company’s Freshwater Wetlands Permit application siting that PennEast’s application could not be “administratively complete” because of the circuit’s decision.
If the pipeline project were to be constructed, its construction would occur in the Hopewell area, while the New Jersey leg of the pipeline accounts for about one-third of the total project.