Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Friday that a proposed natural gas pipeline tied to a Tennessee power plant wouldn’t cause major environmental damage.
The Ridgeline expansion project — from Enbridge’s East Tennessee Natural Gas subsidiary — would serve a natural gas-fired power plant the Tennessee Valley Authority is planning to build.
TVA, the United States’ largest public power provider, decided last month to retire and replace a large coal plant with an “energy complex” that is slated to include the new gas plant as well as solar energy and battery storage. The coal-to-gas swap is opposed by environmental groups who argue that new fossil fuels shouldn’t be added to the energy mix.
In a draft environmental impact statement, FERC staff said the pipeline project would result in “limited” environmental harm. The agency provided more than two dozen recommendations it said could help mitigate those effects.
