Minnesota governor’s administration files Line 3 appeal
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration on Friday appealed a state regulatory panel’s approval of Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce said the Public Utilities Commission got its decisions wrong because Enbridge did not introduce, and the panel did not properly evaluate, the kind of long-range oil demand forecast required by state law.
Dayton, who leaves office Jan. 7, said in a statement that he strongly supports the appeal. He said Enbridge “failed to demonstrate that Minnesota needs this pipeline to meet our future oil demand. In fact, most of the product would flow through our state to supply other states and countries.”
Line 3, which was built in the 1960s, crosses northern Minnesota and a corner of North Dakota on its way from Alberta to Enbridge’s terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge says it’s increasingly subject to corrosion and cracking and can carry only about half its original capacity.