Leaf River Energy Center, LLC; Notice of Application and Establishing Intervention Deadline

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <SUBAGY>Federal Energy Regulatory Commission</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. CP26-17-000]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Leaf River Energy Center, LLC; Notice of Application and Establishing Intervention Deadline</SUBJECT> Take notice that on October 31, 2025, Leaf River Energy Center, LLC (LREC), 2500 CityWest Boulevard, Suite 1775, Houston, Texas 77042, filed an application under section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and Part 157 of the Commission's regulations requesting authorization for its Leaf River Capacity Expansion Project (Project). LREC requests: (i) an amendment to the certificate of public convenience and necessity granted pursuant to the order issued in Docket No. CP08-8-000  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> authorizing LREC to increase the certificated natural gas storage capacity at its existing New Home Salt Dome storage facility in Smith, Jasper, and Clarke Counties, Mississippi by 17.62 billion cubic feet (Bcf) through the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Project; (ii) reaffirmation of its market-based rate authority for its existing firm and interruptible storage services, storage derivative hub services, and interruptible wheeling services; (iii) market-based rate authority for a new proposed firm wheeling service; and (iv) related authorizations and waivers, and any other such waiver, authority, and further relief as may be necessary in order to grant the authorizations requested. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">Leaf River Energy Center, LLC,</E> 125 FERC ¶ 61,131 (2008). </FTNT> Specifically, the Project includes: (i) increasing the working gas capacity of existing Caverns #2 and #4 by 2.55 Bcf each; (ii) developing and operating a new salt dome storage cavern (Cavern Well #5) with 12.52 Bcf of working gas capacity, a well pad site, wellhead equipment, and other pipeline appurtenances; (iii) constructing a service corridor that includes 16- and 24-inch-diameter gas headers, 16-inch-diameter raw water and brine lines, and appurtenant facilities in order to connect Cavern Well #5; (iv) installing two new gas-powered centrifugal compressors with a total of 27,010 horsepower (hp) at the existing compression facility; and (v) installing 6,130 hp of gas-powered centrifugal compression within the existing booster station's fence line, all as more fully set forth in the application which is on file with the Commission and open for public inspection. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> , the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the internet through the Commission's Home Page ( <E T="03">http://www.ferc.gov</E> ). From the Commission's Home Page on the internet, this information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket number field. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's website during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at <E T="03">ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov,</E> or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at <E T="03">public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.</E> Any questions regarding the proposed project should be directed to Austin Isensee, Director, Rates and Regulatory, NJR Storage & Transportation, 2500 CityWest Boulevard, Suite 1775, Houston, Texas 77042 by phone at (832) 469-7988, or by email at <E T="03">AIsensee@njresources.com.</E> Pursuant to section 157.9 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> within 90 days of this Notice the Commission staff will either: complete its environmental review and place it into the Commission's public record (eLibrary) for this proceeding; or issue a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review. If a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review is issued, it will indicate, among other milestones, the anticipated date for the Commission staff's issuance of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) or environmental assessment (EA) for this proposal. The filing of an EA in the Commission's public record for this proceeding or the issuance of a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review will serve to notify federal and state agencies of the timing for the completion of all necessary reviews, and the subsequent need to complete all federal authorizations within 90 days of the date of issuance of the Commission staff's FEIS or EA. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  18 CFR 157.9. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Public Participation</HD> There are three ways to become involved in the Commission's review of this project: you can file comments on the project, you can protest the filing, and you can file a motion to intervene in the proceeding. There is no fee or cost for filing comments or intervening. The deadline for filing a motion to intervene is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 4, 2025. How to file protests, motions to intervene, and comments is explained below. For public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is encouraged to contact the Office of Public Participation (OPP) at (202) 502-6595 or <E T="03">OPP@ferc.gov.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Comments</HD> Any person wishing to comment on the project may do so. Comments may include statements of support or objections, to the project as a whole or specific aspects of the project. The more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Protests</HD> Pursuant to sections 157.10(a)(4)  <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> and 385.211  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> of the Commission's regulations under the NGA, any person  <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> may file a protest to the application. Protests must comply with the requirements specified in section 385.2001  <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> of the Commission's regulations. A protest may also serve as a motion to intervene so long as the protestor states it also seeks to be an intervenor. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  18 CFR 157.10(a)(4). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  18 CFR 385.211. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  Persons include individuals, organizations, businesses, municipalities, and other entities. 18 CFR 385.102(d). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  18 CFR 385.2001. </FTNT> To ensure that your comments or protests are timely and properly recorded, please submit your comments on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 4, 2025. There are three methods you can use to submit your comments or protests to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the Project docket number CP26-17-000 in your submission. (1) You may file your comments electronically by using the eComment feature, which is located on the Commission's website at <E T="03">www.ferc.gov</E> under the link to Documents and Filings. Using eComment is an easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project; (2) You may file your comments or protests electronically by using the eFiling feature, which is located on the Commission's website ( <E T="03">www.ferc.gov</E> ) under the link to Documents and Filings. With eFiling, you can provide comments in a variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your submission. New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on “eRegister.” You will be asked to select the type of filing you are making; first select “General” and then select “Comment on a Filing”; or (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments or protests by mailing them to the following address below. Your written comments must reference the Project docket number (CP26-17-000). <E T="03">To file via USPS:</E> Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. <E T="03">To file via any other courier:</E> Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The Commission encourages electronic filing of comments (options 1 and 2 above) and has eFiling staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or <E T="03">FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov.</E> Persons who comment on the environmental review of this project will be placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, and will receive notification when the environmental documents (EA or EIS) are issued for this project and will be notified of meetings associated with the Commission's environmental review process. The Commission considers all comments received about the project in determining the appropriate action to be taken. However, the filing of a comment alone will not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. To become a party, you must intervene in the proceeding. For instructions on how to intervene, see below. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Interventions</HD> Any person, which includes individuals, organizations, businesses, municipalities, and other entities, <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> has the option to file a motion to intervene in this proceeding. Only intervenors have the right to request rehearing of Commission orders issued in this proceeding and to subsequently challenge the Commission's orders in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  18 CFR 385.102(d). </FTNT> To intervene, you must submit a motion to intervene to the Commission in accordance with Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure  <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> and the regulations under the NGA  <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> by the intervention deadline for the project, which is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 15k characters. 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