Timeline of Troubles for Long Beach LNG Facility

Sound Energy Solutions' proposed Long Beach Liquefied Natural Gas facility now has a timeline for the hurdles it must clear in order to gain approval:

The LNG project, supported by state and federal energy advocates but opposed by local activists, faces key regulatory, environmental and safety hurdles at the City Hall, the Port of Long Beach and federal court.

Sound Energy Solutions (SES), a Long Beach subsidiary of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp., has been developing plans for the terminal, which could hold 320,000 cubic meters of LNG.

It is estimated the plant would bring in enough LNG to provide about 10 percent of California's natural gas needs.

On April 2, the City Council will hold a study session at a yet-to-be-determined location on the project and members of the public are encouraged to attend and provide input.

Then, in late April or early May, an environmental review of the project, being conducted jointly by federal energy regulators and the port and funded by SES, will be released.

Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, who pushed for the April forum, said it's important for the city and port to make decisions on the project ahead of the environmental review.

Gabelich said she is wary of the proposed terminal.

"I want to make sure everybody understands what they approved," she said. "Once the train leaves the station, you've sort of given it your OK."

...The summer is also likely to see the resumption of a court case between energy regulators in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., over which agency has authority to permit the LNG plant.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is suing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which claims control over LNG imports, because the state agency says all the natural gas from the terminal will be used in California.

Final briefs in the CPUC's case against FERC are due in April, meaning the case likely won't begin until the summer, said CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper.

Even with that aggressive schedule for Long Beach, it remains behind the Cabrillo Port project in the approval process, despite the Coast Guard "stopping the clock" last month.