The company’s open season for gauging producers’ interest closed late last month, and TransCanada executives have indicated that they’ve secured enough shipping commitments to make the project commercially worthwhile.
President Barack Obama’s administration rejected TransCanada’s bid for permission to build across the U.S. border in 2015. President Donald Trump vowed to reverse that determination and, in January, invited the company to reapply. Approval was quickly granted. He also championed completion of the Energy Transfer Partners LP-led Dakota Access Pipeline, which runs from northwestern North Dakota to Illinois via South Dakota and Iowa.
The panel heard testimony and took in evidence during a four-day August hearing. Its power over the project is drawn from the state’s constitution.
The U.S. State Department found the KXL project would support about 42,100 jobs and contribute $34 billion to the economy -- including millions of dollars of new economic activity, millions of dollars in annual property tax revenue and hundreds of jobs for Nebraskans -- according to the company’s filing.
Omaha attorney David Domina, who’s been fighting construction of the Keystone XL for more than seven years, represented more than 90 landowners in the case, many of whom had fought the project to a standstill two years ago. He urged the commission to reject the project, contending TransCanada’s lawyers hadn’t met their burden of proof.
Native American tribes claimed it threatened their historic lands and cultural sites.
The case is In the Matter of the Application of TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP for Route Approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, 0p-0003, Nebraska Public Service Commission (Lincoln).
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.