ETRN - Mountain Valley Pipeline wins D.C. Circuit Court OK to continue construction

2023-05-26 15:06:38 ET

Equitrans Midstream ( NYSE: ETRN ) +3.7% in Friday's trading after the Mountain Valley Pipeline cleared a challenge Friday to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate, moving the project forward.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to vacate FERC's authorization, turning back a petition lodged by several environmental groups.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval to build the pipeline across water bodies in West Virginia, but a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit said the decision does not preclude MVP from constructing the project.

The new D.C. Circuit ruling appears to reacquire MVP's authorizations from the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service, which were originally vacated by the Fourth Circuit.

The appellate panel said the invalidation of a specific federal authorization does not invalidate an authorization to construct generally, "particularly if significant construction is already underway."

The $6.2B pipeline is more than 90% constructed, according to the consortium led by Equitrans ( ETRN ), with partners NextEra Energy ( NEE ), Consolidated Edison ( ED ), AltaGas ( OTCPK:ATGFF ) and RGC Resources ( RGCO ).

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