WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, June 27, 2024 – Amy Andryszak, President & CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), released the following statement following the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision to grant an emergency stay of the Good Neighbor Rule:
“The INGAA membership is pleased that the Supreme Court has granted our request for an emergency stay of the EPA’s “Good Neighbor” Rule.
“In writing the Good Neighbor Rule, among other issues, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to consider potential adverse impacts of the rule on natural gas reliability. The scope and timeframe of implementation would result in natural gas service disruptions during times of year when down-stream users, including homes, businesses, and electric power plants, need energy the most.
“These anticipated service disruptions were particularly concerning to the INGAA membership considering the increased energy demand driven by a move towards greater electrification of transportation and other end uses, plus the growth of data centers. The Energy Information Administration reports that more than 40% of all electricity in the U.S. is generated by natural gas. The Good Neighbor Rule would take critical pipeline infrastructure offline at a time when demand for electricity is already increasing, compounding negative consequences of this bad policy on our country’s electrical grid.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court hinged on which side might ultimately “prevail at the end” of the litigation. The Justices determined that the court is likely to find that the Good Neighbor Rule is “arbitrary” or “capricious” and therefore in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. In particular, the EPA failed to address how the Good Neighbor Rule, which was designed to regulate emissions sources in 23 states, would properly function following judicial stays in 12 of those states.
“The emergency stay remains in place pending the disposition of the legal challenges, including INGAA’s, to the Good Neighbor Rule before the D.C. Circuit, where merits briefing will be completed this summer.”
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INGAA represents the U.S. natural gas pipeline industry. INGAA’s members deliver clean, abundant, affordable natural gas throughout North America and operate approximately 200,000 miles of pipelines that serve as an indispensable link between natural gas producers and consumers.
