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This is where things get even more complicated. "What is the purpose of sounding the alarm?" "Is this about putting pressure on FERC?" Fitch asked of Yonce. Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, similarly grilled Yonce about whether Spire's display of public alarm had more to do with building public support in its legal battle over the long-term future of the pipeline. Clancy challenged Yonce's description of the impending risk for shutoffs, saying she had heard from a different Spire official that the temporary certificate is expected to be issued by FERC "at any moment." (Indeed, just two days prior to the council meeting, a Spire spokesman expressed confidence about the pipeline's future during an interview with KMOV, saying "We feel that this will get extended through the winter and people will have the natural gas they need," though adding, "but the situation we’re in right now is that they’re no guarantees on that.)Ĭlancy also noted that, with the region preparing for months of cold, Spire's email "really has caused a lot of fear in the community." "This feels a little bit like manufactured catastrophe designed to solve some public relations issues you and your company are having," Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, told Yonce at one point during the hearing. So, why is an essentially brand-new pipeline is facing shutdown? And why did Spire choose to inform its customers via email-blast that they had barely a month to prepare for winter outages? Are there reasons to not take Spire's presentation of the risks at face value?įor several councilmembers, these were the key questions that Spire has, so far, failed to address. Completed in 2019, the $280 million pipeline isn't contending with leaks or defects operationally, it is "state of the art," Yonce told the council.
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Specifically, Spire is hoping that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, issues a temporary operating certificate, thereby extending the pipeline's use through winter. "Spire Missouri is doing what it has to plan for the worst and hope for the best." Louis Pipeline was not able to operate," he told the council. "We are not able to completely mitigate the shortfall if the Spire St.
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Louis pipeline is set to expire in 33 days, potentially putting more than 400,000 homes and businesses at risk for outages in what Yonce called "a worst-case scenario." Currently, without action by a federal regulator, the operating certificate for the St. Yonce said the email was not intended "to instill fear with the public," but to inform them that the situation had indeed grown dire. He addressed the company's November 4 email to customers, which included the alarming news that the pipeline "is now in jeopardy." Facing the council was Spire planning manager David Yonce.