Groups Challenge FERC Certificate for SSEP Pipeline

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Several environmental groups filed a challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) certificate for the controversial Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, or SSEP pipeline.

The Sierra Club, 7 Directions of Service, Appalachian Voices, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy filed a lawsuit yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to vacate the authorization issued by FERC in January 2026 . FERC failed to adequately analyze the environmental impacts of the pipeline project, violating the National Environmental Policy Act, and ignored evidence showing the pipeline is not in the public interest.

Recently, the Sierra Club, 7 Directions of Service, Appalachian Voices, and other environmental organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Clean Water Act permit for the SSEP pipeline .

In response, the Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, 7 Directions of Service, and Appalachian Voices issued the following statements:

"In approving the SSEP pipeline, FERC ignored clear evidence of significant environmental impacts, including on the hundreds of streams and wetlands this proposed pipeline could cross," said Caroline Hansley, Campaign Organizing Strategist with the Sierra Club. "We cannot allow a pipeline that brings so much more harm to be constructed through sensitive ecosystems and vulnerable communities on the backs of ratepayers."

"SSEP is just Williams Transco piecemealing an expansion that ultimately moves fracked Appalachian gas south to the Gulf export terminals on the backs of captive utility ratepayers. Ratepayers, the environment, and the communities are harmed along the way," said Shelley Robbins, Senior Decarbonization Manager for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy .

"Approving SSEP construction means putting our air, clean drinking water, rivers, and streams at risk for generations," said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Executive Director of 7 Directions of Service . "Environmental harm is already high in our communities, and the residents of these areas have voiced opposition to this project again and again. FERC is accountable to the people and the environment that sustains the people."

"By approving this pipeline, FERC has failed to appropriately assess the environmental impacts SSEP would have on the communities, streams and wetlands along its path," said Matt Allenbaugh, Virginia Campaign Coordinator with Appalachian Voices. "This certificate was granted despite widespread opposition to an unnecessary and damaging pipeline."