Energy Transfer Partners Demands Biden’s Energy Department Act Immediately On the Company’s Pending LNG Export Application
The Department of Energy should immediately reject project as not being in the public interest
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a filing today with the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Transfer is demanding that the U.S. Department of Energy “expeditiously act on its pending application” to export Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from its planned Lake Charles, Louisiana export terminal in light of July 1 ruling by a Louisiana-based federal judge decision. That federal court opinion orders DOE to “process the pending applications.” Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, issued the following statement:
“Energy Transfer’s requested volumes of LNG exports from its planned Lake Charles facility is not in the public interest. The judge ruled that DOE must rule on the request, so the only justified DOE response is to reject the application.
“Our November 2023 protest noted Energy Transfer’s status as a criminal convict should immediately render its application as inconsistent with the public interest. Energy Transfer’s sloppy application was riddled with contradictions, including asserting that for purposes of evaluating environmental harms of its proposed exports, it was impossible to predict whether domestic gas production would increase due to its requested exports, while in a separate section within the same application Energy Transfer boldly claimed that its requested level of exports would conclusively lead to increased domestic production, thereby alleviating potential domestic supply shortages.
“We noted that record LNG exports have upended domestic energy markets, exposing American families to higher and more volatile energy prices. And we introduced evidence that LNG exports exacerbate climate change and cause other environmental harms. Energy Transfer relies on outdated Trump-era economic studies that have proved to be laughably wrong.
“The U.S. Department of Energy is tasked by Congress to only permit exports of natural gas to non-FTA countries which are ‘consistent with the public interest.’ The U.S. Supreme Court noted that the “primary aim” of this 86-year-old law is ‘to protect consumers against exploitation at the hands of natural gas companies.’”
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