The content of the paper reflects PEC’s present understanding of--
-- Energy delivery infrastructure for natural gas sector, electric power transmission and renewable energy;-- The potential ecological, community and environmental impacts associated with such infrastructure;
-- How the siting of such infrastructure is currently reviewed and approved in Pennsylvania;
-- Energy infrastructure siting approval processes employed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and three states (New York, Ohio and North Dakota) as illustrations of different siting approval processes; and
-- The vertical and horizontal fragmentation of governmental decision-making prevalent in energy infrastructure approval processes.
The paper concludes with:
-- a preliminary list of questions which PEC believes are relevant to the goals of optimizing the use of existing infrastructure corridors whenever possible, minimizing the impacts of new energy infrastructure rights of way, and the role of planning in the approval of energy infrastructure; and -- recommendations included in the Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission Report which are relevant to energy infrastructure siting.
PEC readily acknowledges that the subject matter is complex and that our understanding is far from complete. Therefore, we invite comments and criticisms of what we have presented as well as additional matters that we have not included thus far.
PEC’s intention is to republish additional iterations of this paper to reflect the reaction to the paper and the discussion that will occur at the September conference.
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