Is the fracked gas pipeline dead?

Early morning demonstration at King and James on November 17 by Hamilton 350 Committee

The Ontario Energy Board has now officially accepted Enbridge’s withdrawal of plans for a fracked gas pipeline but has refused intervenor requests to impose conditions on the company. Enbridge has downgraded the potential of reviving the pipe through the Beverly Swamp as gas demand continues to face significant headwinds.

Last week Burlington City Council joined Hamilton and several other municipalities in asking the provincial government to phase out the use of gas in generating electricity. The motion by councillors Sharman and Nisan was approved unanimously.

The Hamilton resolution was put forward by Brad Clark, a former cabinet minister in a provincial Conservative government in the late 1990s. It was opposed at committee by Lloyd Ferguson and Judi Partridge, but adopted 11-2 after Mayor Eisenberger spoke in favour of it. Subsequently it was unanimously ratified by city council.

At least seven other municipalities are actively considering joining the Ontario Clean Air Alliance campaign to block the Ford government’s plans to ramp up use of gas and the associated greenhouse gas emissions by at least 300 percent. When Enbridge unveiled its plans for the Beverly Swamp fracked gas pipeline, it argued the new 48 inch diameter pipe was required to feed expanded use in Ontario’s electricity generation.

And this week the forecasts of the Canadian Energy Regulator (formerly the National Energy Board) had more bad news for new fossil fuel projects. It predicted that gas consumption peaked in 2019 and after a slight recovery next year will go into steady decline. In response the national columnist of the Globe and Mail declared “the pipeline era is over”.

The CER report is issued annually and this year calculated that the use of oil has also peaked and is unlikely to regain pre-pandemic levels. Its forecasts came after last month’s withdrawal of the Enbridge pipeline plan across rural Hamilton, but presumably the company was already reading the writing on the wall.

Its initial withdrawal notice strongly suggested the Beverly Swamp project could be revived next year, but the response of several intervenors at the OEB hearings then led Enbridge to downgrade that possibility.

Led by the Green Energy Coalition that represents Hamilton 350 Committee, several intervenors urged the OEB to impose conditions on the withdrawal such as a requirement that Enbridge start working on reducing demand for gas as an alternative to expanding its piping system. They also wanted details from the company on why it was withdrawing the pipeline application so that they could evaluate a potential new Enbridge move in 2021.

In reply, Enbridge said the intervenors had misinterpreted the withdrawal letter.

“Other than monitoring customer demand, which Enbridge Gas does as part of operating the utility in any event, there is no statement as to the certainty that an application will be brought in 2021”, declared the company. “Enbridge Gas has withdrawn its application and does not have any plans to proceed with the project as originally proposed.”

Hundreds of residents and dozens of organizations have fought to stop this project and have been celebrating its withdrawal. They aren’t likely to watch from the sidelines should Enbridge revive this project or a similar one.

Enbridge pipeline expansion plans may also have taken a hit from federal legislation unveiled last week by Prime Minister Trudeau that would eventually require a shift of Canada to a net zero carbon emissions status by 2050. Gas extractors and distributors have tried to exempt their product from climate action by claiming it is a “bridge fuel”, but that argument seems to have fewer and fewer adherents.