CLERMONT, Ky. — Utility regulators issued two new orders, including one allowing Attorney General Andy Beshear to intervene in the case.
Bernheim Forest filed a complaint in early August to the Kentucky Public Service Commission against both the commission and LG&E. It claims LG & E wasn’t fully transparent with the public in its pipeline process.
The commission is now deciding if that complaint can move forward.
On Tuesday, the commission issued an order saying it needs more information before it can make a decision.
"There are issued related to whether or not Bernheim has the standing legally to bring the complaint,” Andrew Melnykovych, Public Service Commission spokesman, said. "It's a matter of essentially who, what, and where relative to that piece of property and the timing of the case under which the PSC granted LG&E a certificate to build that pipeline."
It means the commission is deciding what legal standing and interest Bernheim has with the property the 12-mile natural gas pipeline would run through in northern Bullitt County.
"Once the standing issue has been resolved then the complaint either will or won't move forward but it's way to soon to make any kind of statement as to what the future holds with respect to this complaint,” Melnykovych said.
In order to find out more information, both Bernheim and LG & E are scheduled for legal briefings.
Beshear can also choose to be apart of the legal briefings, after the commission issued another order late Wednesday after the attorney general had requested to intervene in the case. He also requested they expand the scope of the case following a pipeline explosion in Lincoln County in early August, but the commission denied that part of his request.
“We've got to sort through these other issues before we can get whether or not the scope should be expanded,” Melnykovych said.
Whether the commission decides the case will or won't move forward, either outcome could still be challenged in court.
The scheduled briefings will take over a month. Melnykovych said a decision by the commission isn’t likely until early October.