By Michael Brooks

Cheryl LaFleur has won plaudits for her leadership since taking over as acting chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November and won 90 votes for her renomination to a second five-year term on Tuesday. But she did it without any help from the Democratic senators from Maryland.

Maryland’s Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski were among seven senators to vote against LaFleur, along with New York’s Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat John E. Walsh of Montana and Republicans Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts of Kansas.

LaFleur’s confirmation came the day after more than two dozen opponents of Dominion’s $3.8 billion plan to convert the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the Chesapeake Bay into an export terminal were arrested for blocking the entrance to FERC’s headquarters. The sit-in, organized by environmental group Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), was part of a larger demonstration in D.C. against hydraulic fracturing and the natural gas industry’s push to export LNG. Reuters reported that people held signs calling the agency the “Fracking Expansion Rubberstamp Commission.”

Dominion has said that Cove Point would not depend on fracking for its exported LNG. Those in opposition, including Cardin and Mikulski, disagree.

Environmental Assessment

In May, FERC staff released its environmental assessment (EA) of Dominion’s plans for Cove Point, which said that “approval of the project … would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.”

FERC accepted public comments at a meeting held in Calvert County, where Cove Point is located.

The senators wrote FERC in March, forwarding the concerns of a number of communities and activist groups. They asked the commission to “go the extra mile” and schedule additional meetings in five Maryland counties that they said could be subject to either fracking or the construction of gas pipelines if Cove Point is approved.

A letter from the Montgomery County Council seconded the request. “Construction of this facility will most likely lead to higher demand for gas recovered from ‘fracking,’ particularly from the Marcellus Shale basin that extends into Maryland,” wrote Council Vice President George Leventhal, who noted that another natural gas reservoir, the “Culpepper Basin,” lies in the county.

LaFleur responded with a letter declining the requests, saying that the commission “gives equal consideration to written comments and comments received at a public meeting” during the requisite 30-day public comment period for an EA.

The senators’ request to extend the comment period by another 30 days was also declined.

“We are extremely disappointed by FERC’s denial of our simple request for an additional 30 days for the public comment period,” they said in a joint press release in June. “It’s unfortunate FERC has denied this request, refusing to respect the needs for Marylanders to have sufficient time to review and understand the contents of the environmental assessment document and provide comment” to FERC.

Foreign Markets

As natural gas supply has boomed in the U.S., domestic prices have dropped sharply, leading producers to seek access to international markets, where prices are higher.

The Obama administration is also under pressure to export natural gas as part of its economic sanctions against Russia for its role in the Ukrainian revolution. Russia controls most of Europe’s natural gas supply and in June began withholding its supply to Ukraine.

Last September, the Department of Energy approved Dominion’s 20-year contracts with two companies – one in India and one in Japan – to export LNG from Cove Point. Dominion needed department approval because the U.S. doesn’t have free-trade agreements with these countries.

Both DOE and FERC have already approved two LNG export facilities in Louisiana. Cheniere Energy expects its Sabine Pass LNG site to begin exporting in late 2015, while Sempra Energy got FERC approval last week for its Cameron LNG site. Construction is expected to begin there in the fall.

FERC’s order for Cove Point is expected as early as the end of this month.

Dominion is confident that, after meeting FERC’s environmental requirements, the project will be approved. Dominion says construction could begin before the end of summer and that the station would be fully operational by late 2017, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.