During a House Energy Committee hearing before the Congressional Recess, Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) asked Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Policy and Risk Officer at the Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Jim Moriarty about the safety of pipelines.
00:00The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Texas is 11th district five minutes for questions. I think thank you. Mr. Chairman
00:06I do have some questions that I'll get to but does anybody have any thoughts on this last discussion?
00:11We just heard that safety incidents are out of control or want to push back on anything
00:18Sure, I'll cover enforcement I divide this year into two chapters before PHMSA introduced office of chief counsel memos
00:27Adopting mandates from Congress in the 2020 Act since then I understand enforcement numbers are more similar
00:34Before then even when numbers were lower
00:37The the quality was high in terms of responding to the major incidents on two lines
00:41They issued corrective action orders and the industry supports PHMSA being an effective regulator
00:48I
00:50Would just echo that our members do encourage that we have a strong and well-informed well-resourced
00:55Regulator for the but not only the safety, but also it makes sure that we have predictable
01:01Expect expectations for operations. Yeah, but reasonable correct being the key word. Yeah, thank you
01:07Okay, and Ms. Miller I'll stick with you and I'll start with the gas gathering rule and as you're aware this
01:13Significantly expanded PHMSA's jurisdiction bringing more than 400,000 additional miles of gathering lines under federal oversight
01:20And and they're located in districts like mine in the Permian Basin
01:26Where there's a heavy presence of production there and very important in the scope of implementation this rule
01:31Could have major implications for how the gathering systems are built and operated going forward
01:37So we want to get this right. We want to be reasonable and safety is important there
01:41It's not it's it is a major concern
01:43And there are other concerns as well, but from your perspective what implementation challenges are operators currently facing on the ground?
01:51And how can PHMSA better distinguish between high-risk and then lower risk areas again reasonable?
01:56In the way governance which is not always the way it's done, but no, I appreciate that question very much. Yes, we do
02:04Very much value the opportunity to have risk-based assessment of safety concerns
02:10There just because for example a pipeline may have two different pipelines may have similar diameter or similar pressure
02:17There are other circumstance to consider in order to make sure that we're assessing
02:22What the risk is appropriately including for example proximity to populations
02:27Length of pipeline one of the things I also wanted to make sure that this subcommittee is familiar with us the difference between the
02:35The differences that exists between gathering pipelines and term transmission pipelines not only physically but commercially
02:43So it's important to remember that the interstate pipelines are subject to
02:50regulated rates with
02:53Uniform tariffs versus gathering pipelines are subject to market-based
02:58negotiated compensation and negotiated commercial terms so very different application
03:03I'm sorry that more of my colleagues aren't here to to hear that
03:08We always take trips down there and we do point out the difference in the Permian Basin of gathering systems versus the larger pipelines interstate type
03:16and just real quickly
03:18What and I want to get to as a mr. Mariani, but?
03:22Having frequent g-pack meetings and ensuring participation from stakeholders. What's the importance of that? And how does that help?
03:27Fimsa regulate we really appreciate the g-pack process. We think it helps bring more informed regulation, which therefore is more likely to be
03:36Implementable and we want to encourage that that g-pack process also include more insights from gathering operators when it's regulating as it is more as Fimsa is more
03:46Often regulating gathering now. Thank you
03:49Just uh, I had a mr. Mariani
03:54I had some things I was gonna say but let me just get right to the question in your view
03:58Is there any realistic path to reliable grid without natural gas playing a role as the backbone the backbone? Thank you congressman? No, there is not
04:06And would you agree that if we're gonna meet the rising demand while also keeping the lights on that?
04:11We need to get serious about modernizing and expanding our natural gas infrastructure and give us your thoughts on that
04:16Yes, I would agree with that
04:19natural gas pipelines are the safest way to move the energy that this nation needs and
04:24There's ever more demand for energy across our service territories, which is in United States and to meet those demands
04:32We need to construct and safely operate
04:35Pipelines as well as LNG storage facilities. Where did the negativity come from in this country towards pipelines?
04:42How did we get here?
04:44Well, I don't know it at Chesapeake utilities
04:46And that's what I can speak of we take very seriously our obligations to the communities we serve and those communities are where we live and where we work
04:56So if an issue is raised with us, we immediately study it and address it
05:00So I'm not quite sure what's happening elsewhere. Yeah science and math. They're the safest form of
05:06Transportation and transmission and they keep the lights on. I'll yield back. Thank you the gentleman's time has expired
Be the first to comment