MPSC denies Enbridge Energy's request for relief on Line 5 pipeline project, sets full hearing process for proposal

The Michigan Public Service Commission today denied the relief Enbridge Energy LP sought in its request for a declaratory ruling and also rejected the company’s request for ex parte approval of plans to relocate the Line 5 pipeline to a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. The Commission established a full hearing process for the proposal.

Enbridge in April filed an application (Case No. U-20763) requesting siting approval under Act 16 of 1929 to replace and relocate the Line 5 section in the Straits of Mackinac into a new tunnel it would build beneath the lakebed. In the alternative, Enbridge sought a declaratory ruling from the MPSC that the company already has authority from the Commission to build the replacement segment based on the MPSC’s 1953 order that first granted permission for Line 5. The 645-mile interstate pipeline spans both Michigan peninsulas to transport light crude oil and natural gas liquids, including propane used for home heating in Michigan.

In today’s order, the Commission found that, based on Enbridge’s application and comments received from stakeholders, the Line 5 project differs substantially from the pipeline approved in 1953, and therefore the company does not have authority for the project under the 1953 order. Whereas the Commission approved in 1953 dual 20-inch pipelines constructed on the lakebed, Enbridge proposes replacing them with a single 30-inch pipeline housed in a concrete-lined tunnel 60-250 feet beneath the lakebed, involving a new easement and a 99-year lease of public trust property.

https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/0,9535,7-395-93307_93313_17280-533269--,00.html