D.C. Circuit Rules on Sabal Trail

As anticipated in our February 26 analysis, FERC Continues to Plead for Time to Issue Sabal Trail Order, this afternoon the U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit denied FERC's request to stay the effectiveness of the court's August order vacating the certificate for the Sabal Trail Pipeline and related projects. While officially a denial of the FERC request, the court will not issue the mandate until Monday, March 26. The effect of this order is that the D.C. Circuit has given FERC the time it requested, until March 23, to issue an order adopting the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and reaffirming the certificate for the projects.

Therefore, presuming FERC can act in the time frame it represented to the court, there should be no impact on the operations of the pipelines or construction of the remaining portions of the projects. The ball is now in FERC's court to fulfill its commitment to issue an order by March 23.