To so depart from "the regulation's obvious meaning" would "permit the [Commission], under the guise of interpreting a regulation, to create de facto a new regulation." Christensen v. Harris Cnty., 529 U.S. 576, 588 (2000); accord Chase Bank USA, N.A. v. McCoy, 562 U.S. 195, 211 (2011) (internal quotation omitted)

Petitioners initially succeeded—twice—on those claims.

Radicals Using MVP Case to Void Eminent Domain for All Pipelines
In 2019 a group of Virginia landowners filed a lawsuit against the Equitrans Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, because they didn’t like how the pipeline left a mark across their horse pastures. The landowners arrogantly argued Congress improperly delegated its legislative powers to FERC and that ALL pipeline approvals made by FERC that have led to property being “taken” against a landowner’s wishes, including MVP, should be invalidated. In May 2020 a federal court dismissed the case. Using money from Big Green groups (who are funded by foreign countries like Russia and China), the uppity landowners appealed once again and, unfortunately, the case remains active and live, now in a higher court.

PG&E will unveil plans in February to bury about 10,000 miles of electric power lines across California in a bid to curb wildfire risks in the scarred North Bay region, the utility giant’s chief executive told The Press Democrat Monday.
Patti Poppe said the San Francisco-based company will build upon the efforts of burying almost 100 miles of electric distribution lines by year’s end. That includes 4 miles within Rincon Valley that now allows 11,000 customers to avoid preventive power outages during wildfire season. Projects in other North Bay counties haven’t yet been identified.
“Even 100 miles makes a difference. You know 200, 300, 500, 1,000 miles makes a huge difference in our highest-risk areas,” Poppe said. “We are getting great feedback on our ability to do it at an affordable cost for customers, which a lot of people doubted at first.”

According to the TVA, at least 100 transmission towers and poles were damaged and destroyed; with 29 TVA transmission lines knocked out of service. More than 20 customer connection points – where the TVA power system meets with local power companies – went offline leaving more than 250,000 customers without power amid and after the storms.

The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) found the heaviest damage to electric cooperatives infrastructure occurred in the bootheel counties of Dunklin and Pemiscot, where more than 20 large transmission towers and lines were destroyed or heavily damaged. 

Utility crews have rerouted power from other sources until a permanent repair can be made. At its peak, more than 30,000 people were without power.

Plundering the land of Missouri landowners for private gain is not heroic nor commendable, but rather a shameful abuse of eminent domain laws by an out-of-state billionaire who aims to ship government subsidized wind energy across our state’s borders and profits into the pockets of investors. It does not benefit the state when private companies manipulate our eminent domain laws to serve only their bottom line and not our citizens.

... the author’s attempt to equate the corporate behemoths behind Grain Belt Express to true Missouri trailblazers like Mark Twain, J.C. Penney and Walt Disney is an insulting attempt to mislead, misguide and distract readers from the facts. 
First, the Grain Belt Express is not a product of a Missouri genius, but rather an outdated idea of a Chicago billionaire whose intent is to drive profits for investors. If Grain Belt Express was truly innovative they would be taking notes from the SOO Green which delivers renewable energy underground on existing rail rights of way through Iowa to the Eastern U.S., eliminating land and environmental impacts of above-ground merchant transmission lines.

Even the Clean Path NY project (of which Invenergy is a partner) is buried underground. One would think an actual genius could modify the Grain Belt Express project to provide all of the “benefits” of clean power without the major disruptions. But corporate greed stands in the way of actual progress.

... it may surprise some readers to learn the Grain Belt Express is a purely optional merchant transmission line which has not been ordered or required for any ratepayer need. Instead, it is a private, supplemental, profit-making endeavor as a merchant transmitter of electricity that is not restricted to wind energy. It is NOT funded by ratepayers because it is not for them. It is funded by investors who receive the benefit from the project. As an optional project, Invenergy can cancel the Grain Belt Express at any time. In fact, the project may never be built if the economics do not translate into returns for investors. For this reason, the project should not be allowed to take land “for a public use.” Landowners deserve certainty, not smoke and mirrors, and Grain Belt Express should not interfere with landowner rights before it even has customers and financing for their project.

... landowners and community groups represented solely by the undersigned Consumer Organizations are the elephant in the room that is ignored by nearly all other commenters.

No matter the new rules implemented through this proceeding, the Commission cannot avoid the elephant. All commenters support their own version of transmission utopia, with very few acknowledging that the transmission the new rules are designed to encourage can be made more expensive, delayed, or perhaps even cancelled, through opposition from affected landowners and communities. No rule made by the Commission can overcome the will of the people to join together to protect their interests against what may be seen as an invasion that jeopardizes their homes, health, heritage, and ability to earn a living.