Williams wins again in Louisiana pipeline legal dispute with Energy Transfer

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Energy Transfer’s (ET) request to review Williams Companies’ (NYSE:WMB) Louisiana Energy Gateway pipeline, Bloomberg reported Monday, in the latest ruling in a long-running legal dispute between the two companies.

Energy Transfer (ET) had asked FERC to treat Louisiana Energy Gateway as an interstate pipeline and take over regulatory responsibility; Williams (WMB) argued the pipeline is an intrastate line outside FERC’s jurisdiction, a position previously affirmed by a state court, which also ruled in Williams’ favor in a right-of-way dispute involving Louisiana Energy Gateway’s crossing of an existing Energy Transfer pipeline.

“We deny Energy Transfer’s petition for the Commission’s issuance of an order to Williams to show cause,” FERC said in its September 27 ruling, which clears the path for Williams (WMB) to proceed with the construction and operation of the 1.8B cf/day pipeline as planned.

“With this ruling, Williams continues to prevail against Energy Transfer’s efforts to hinder the development of our project,” a Williams (WMB) spokesperson said.