In recent months, local officials in Virginia and North Carolina, mostly Republicans-elect, have sent brilliant letters of encouragement to federal regulators in support of gas projects in their states. akoAn internal email reviewed by HuffPost shows that these letters have similarities: They were written by lobbyists and consultants from the two major pipeline companies behind these projects.
The communications show how Williams Companies Inc .. and TC Energy Corporation worked to strengthen political support for several natural gas infrastructure projects that are currently under federal review. Fill in the fields Left Dominion Energy and Duke Energy have been removed Atlantic coast pipeline.
The Industry Monitoring Group of the Institute for Energy and Policy obtained documents requiring some public documents to be submitted by him and others. He shared them exclusively on HuffPost.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading body for climate research, has released the latest global warming alert reports. The latest review, published in early April, warning That global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase in 2025 and then almost stop halfway by 2030 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
On Jan. 10, Robert Crockett, president of Advantus Strategies and lobbyist of Oklahoma-based Williams Companies, emailed Wayne Carter, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, a draft letter of support for Williams. Southside Reliability Improvement Project. The proposed expansion of the company’s current Transco pipeline will allow it to deliver more natural gas to North Carolina. The project involves the construction of a new electrical compressor station in the Mecklenburg district.
“Attached is a draft letter expressing support for Williams’ draft, which we have previously discussed with you and your advice, ”Crockett wrote. “You’re free to switch.”
Carter signed the letter and sent it to Crockett a few hours later with only minor corrections.
“Thank you Wayne!” Jay McChesney, a Williams community and project specialist, responded. “If you don’t want to, send it to the post office and send it to FERC [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] This is greatly appreciated, thanks again for your support of our project. “
A letter Carter sent to the regulator that day on behalf of the country’s supervisory board states that the project will “be implemented in an environmentally friendly manner and provide the necessary benefits to our rural area.” And he welcomes Williams as “transparent and sincere as a corporate citizen who exists in the state.”
“We strongly urge FERC to approve this proposed project,” the letter wrote.
At least three Republican lawmakers – state Senator Frank Ruff and state delegates Tom Wright Jr. and Les Adams – the sender of letters to FERC containing the language of Carter’s letter in identical or closely expressed language, stating how far the company has operated. . Scenes.
Ruff and Wright also sent nearly identical letters to FERC in March in support of Williams ’separation. Community Energy Connector ProjectAnother Transco expansion aims to increase natural gas supplies in southeast Virginia.
The Transco pipeline runs more than 10,000 miles from Texas to New York, carrying about 15 percent of the nation’s natural gas, according to the company’s website.
Neither Carter nor the 10 elected Republican officials Anyone who writes to FERC to support the gas projects has responded to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Raff answered specific questions from HuffPost, but said in an email that “William is a good corporate citizen who has been involved in the region for over fifty years.”
“We need companies that take my constituents,” Ruff said. “If I don’t agree with their importance in the region, I won’t support their efforts. I believe others will agree with it.”
Williams’ companies did not respond.
At the same time Williams was taking up the political threads in Virginia, Wayne King, a lobbyist and former vice president of the North Carolina Republican Party, was working to strengthen support for the project in the state of Tare Heels. In January, King’s letters to the offices of two Republicans, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and Mursville Mayor Miles Atkins, emphasized the need for stakeholder analysis.
“For your convenience, I have attached a few conversation points,” King wrote in an exchange.
Some points of this conversation are literally contained in the letters Moore and Atkins sent to FERC, including how Williams was a “responsible corporate citizen, environmental manager and reliable service provider” and how the the project “stimulates economic development in Eastern North Carolina. Ensure greater access to clean, reliable and affordable natural gas”.
The letter from federal regulators to Senator Bob Steinburg of the Republic of North Carolina also included several conversations from the company, including a statement about Williams reflecting on “environmental stewardship.”
Columbia Gas Transmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TC Energy, has taken similar action to obtain support for two related projects it is implementing in Virginia: Virginia Reliability Project At Virginia electrification project. The projects will replace approximately 50 miles of the current pipeline near St. Louis. Petersburg and upgrade compressor stations in the system to increase natural gas capacity in the Hampton Road region of Virginia.
The email shows TC Energy providing model letters submitted by Republican Mayors of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake in support of the company’s reliability project in Virginia.
“Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me and Aaron Thompson from TC Virginia Reliability Project of Energy, “Esmel Mix, TC Energy consultant wrote to Robert Beach Dyer, Mayor of Virginia Beach, in late February. (Thompson is a government and public relations consultant at TC Energy).
“We appreciate your willingness to write a letter Support FERC and I write to continue. We are sending letters and I have attached a draft letter for your consideration. “
The letter, which Dyer submitted to FERC three days later, was a carbon copy of the project provided by Mix and published as part of a request for public records.
Earlier that month, Mix submitted a draft of a similar letter to Chesapeake Mayor Rick West’s office. Sandy Madison, one of the city’s deputies, immediately informed Mix that she had printed a letter for the mayor to sign. “Please fix this letter and print it on the mayor’s form,” Madison wrote to a colleague.
West’s letter to the project and the company was applauded by FERC on Feb. 8.
“Please be aware that the people and communities most affected by VRP are enthusiastic about its benefits,” he said. “As mayor, I am proud to support you.
Lynn Godfrey, Virginia Introductory Community Coordinator of the Sierra Club, said the communications will “tell the whole story” of the industry’s political influence on the community. A resident of Hampton Road, he is particularly critical of the West’s claim that the “hardest hit” communities are supporters. Many communities are still studying projects today, he said.
“These pipelines run in communities that are collectively affected by all sorts of pollutants,” he said. “People don’t like this poison in their neighborhood.”
TC Energy did not respond to questions from HuffPost about its role in writing the letters. Instead, the project is said to help meet the growing economic needs of Hampton Roads.
“Local officials, community leaders, businesses and citizens know that this project meets their needs and is important to the region’s future and therefore a wide range of bipartisans are enthusiastic about supporting the Virginia Reliability Project, “said the company. Email application.
In a statement to the Virginia Credibility Project, TC Energy said the project will help Virginia Natural Gas, a distribution company, meet the growing demand for gas not only from residents and businesses, but also beyond to a dozen military and military equipment. industries. Virginia Natural Gas is a subsidiary of Southern Gas Company, an early partner of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The planned 600-mile pipeline will stretch into West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, and will meet strong opposition from indigenous and other local communities.
In addition to internal communications, a review of the HuffPost FERC document found that four Republican lawmakers in the state of Virginia – Delegates Emily Brewer and John McGuire III and censors Bryce Reeves and Mark Peak – sent nearly identical letter to Energy TC. Electrification project.
The project will “benefit the environment by reducing emissions through electrification of equipment, while increasing capacity,” they wrote.
HuffPost could not confirm what role TC Energy played in generating these letters; However, they are part of an obvious trend.
Godfrey said that if more energy is needed in the Hampton Road area, it should be met by renewable energy sources and not by gas projects that won’t be lost on the internet for another 2-3 years.
“The opposition is growing,” he said. “Everyone is coming together for another great fight.”
Source: Huffpost
