The Vital Importance of Pipeline and Transmission Infrastructure to Decarbonization - Energy Law Insights
Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
Nota Bene Episode 97: The Seismic Changes Renewables Are Bringing to Energy Transmission and Its Infrastructure with Mark Sundback
Policy Minute: TSA Cybersecurity Roadmap for Pipelines
The Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal’s recent decision in ETC Tiger Pipeline, LLC v. DT Midstream, Inc. highlights the limitations of exclusive personal servitude owners’ rights relative to preservation and protection...more
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, in Bohan v. FERC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) for the second time affirmed a lower court’s finding that property owners could not bring a...more
* The following blog is an adaptation of the presentation Alan Ackerman and Matthew Ackerman gave on “The Fundamentals of Easement Valuation” at the American Law Institute’s Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Seminar...more
With the frequency of wildfires and flooding, landslides are becoming more frequent throughout California. When public agencies have water pipelines located in hillsides, the situation presents the classic “chicken or egg”...more
Our office routinely handles utility takings, which often involve partial takings of easements for transmission lines or pipelines. As governments attempt to improve the electrical grid to support the transportation of wind...more
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently considered the latest Supreme Court of Canada decision on pure economic loss in a decision involving a proposed class action for damages related to a pipeline spill. In its decision, the...more
Last week, a court called into question whether a condemnation by a gas utility was for a “public use,” even though the take was initiated by an entity that had the statutory authority to enter, condemn and appropriate land....more
Under California law, a grant deed is generally understood to transfer the entire fee title interest in real property, unless it expressly states otherwise. (See, e.g., Civil Code sections 1105 and 1113.) If the seller wants...more
Easement by estoppel- DeepRock Disposal Solutions, LLC v. Forté Prods., LLC, 4th Dist. Washington No. 20CA15, 2021-Ohio-1436- In this appeal, the Fourth Appellate District affirmed as modified the trial court’s...more
In WBI Energy Transmission, Inc. v. Easement and Right-of-Way Across, WBI Energy Transmission’s "Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence or Testimony of Other Easement Transactions” was denied in a ruling filed April 1, 2021....more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently invited public comment on environmental justice matters it may consider in future natural gas pipeline certificate proceedings, reopening a three-year-old notice and...more
San Miguel Electric Coop is a Texas nonprofit electric cooperative that owns and operates a power plant that supplies electricity to 38 Texas counties. After a four-week absence, they return to these pages, this time in DCP...more
Porter Hedges recently scored a significant victory for landowners Terrance and Kenneth Hlavinka and their families (“the Hlavinkas”) against HSC Pipeline Partners, a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners. On June 18,...more
Adding another chapter to the legal controversies that continue to rage over the siting of new gas pipelines, on September 10, 2019 the Third Circuit upheld the State of New Jersey’s sovereign immunity objection to the...more
In Mary et al. QEP Energy Company the question was, given an encroachment of a pipeline onto the property of another, what is the test for determining the good faith, or not, of the party in possession?...more
On May 31, the Iowa Supreme Court decided Texas-based company, Dakota Access, lawfully used the state’s power of eminent domain to seize land from Iowa citizens for the Bakken oil pipeline. The decision follows the...more
Property Owners Along Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Lancaster County Get Another Round of Letters "The letters issued notice of intent to file liens if MacAllister didn't receive timely payment of about $1.02 million it...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled against a Roman Catholic group challenging the use of their land in connection with an interstate natural gas pipeline. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ...more
Consumers Power has filed multiple lawsuits using eminent domain. I previously wrote Consumers Energy to Reconstruct Line 2800 Pipeline, a 24" Natural Gas Pipeline describing a new pipeline being constructed by Consumers....more
Property owners whose land will be taken for the Sabal Trail Transmission LLC’s natural gas pipeline should be compensated under Florida law rather than federal rules, a Florida federal judge ruled....more
ET Rover’s pipeline construction activities in Ohio for the same pipeline that is being built in Lenawee and Washtenaw Counties in Michigan result in multiple environmental and other violations, leaving some to believe that...more
Rover has initiated one mass filing against all property owners in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. Rover Pipeline has been acquiring property rights in Washtenaw and Lenawee Counties....more
In return for dropping a necessity challenge, Wolverine Pipeline agreed to substantially modified easement and paid the attorney fees incurred in pursuing the challenge. As I have previously noted, greater flexibility...more
Early intervention by property owner counsel can sometimes result in convincing condemning authorities to alter either their project or the rights sought to prevent catastrophic consequences to the owner and massive just...more
DTE acts quickly and reasonably to settle Milford bypass case. Since I previously wondered whether DTE was engaging in chicanery by providing a construction document that identified the proposed location of the easement...more