TransCanada sues US gov’t over pipeline denial

TransCanada Corporation filed a Notice of Intent to initiate a claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in response to the U.S. Administration’s decision to deny a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

TransCanada also has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court in Houston, Texas, asserting that the President’s decision to deny construction of Keystone XL exceeded his power under the U.S. Constitution.

Through the NAFTA claim, TransCanada will be seeking to recover more than US$15 billion in costs and damages that it has suffered as a result of the U.S. Administration’s breach of its NAFTA obligations.

The NAFTA claim says that TransCanada had every reason to expect its application would be granted as the application met the same criteria the U.S. State Department applied when approving applications to construct other similar cross-border pipelines – including the existing Keystone pipeline, which was approved in under two years, in contrast with the seven years the Administration took to make a decision on Keystone XL. The Keystone Pipeline System has now safely transported more than 1.1 billion barrels of Canadian and American oil through Canada and the United States.

TransCanada says that the Administration’s action was contrary to Congress’ power under the U.S. Constitution to regulate interstate and international commerce. While the President has traditionally granted permits on narrow, established grounds, any such power does not exist when Congress has acted to the contrary or when the decision is based on the unprecedented and symbolic grounds that are the foundation of the denial in this case. In early 2015, both houses of Congress passed a bipartisan bill approving the construction of Keystone XL, which the President later vetoed.