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Register entry No. 0030ReportJERA Americas proposal

FERC opens scoping on Longboard LNG import terminal off Oʻahu, Docket No. PF26-10-000

A notice at 91 FR 68507 sets a Nov. 27 deadline for comments on JERA Americas' planned mooring, subsea pipeline and receiving facility at Kalaeloa. The floating regasification unit and the 500-megawatt power plant it would supply sit outside the Commission's review.

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Summary

Three miles of 16-inch subsea pipeline, a single point mooring and a receiving facility of about 2 acres make up the part of JERA Americas’ Hawaiʻi gas plan that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says it will review [1]. In a notice published October 30, 2026, at 91 FR 68507, FERC staff opened a scoping period on the planned Longboard LNG Project of Longboard TerminalCo, LLC, an import terminal in state waters off Kalaeloa (Barbers Point) and onshore near Campbell Industrial Park on Oʻahu, under Docket No. PF26-10-000 [1]. Comments are due November 27, and staff will hold scoping sessions in Honolulu on November 18 and in Ewa Beach on November 19 [1]. The notice was signed October 26 by Secretary Debbie-Anne A. Reese under 18 CFR 2.1 [1].

What the record shows

The jurisdictional facilities. The notice lists the FERC-jurisdictional pieces as a single point mooring system, an approximately 3-mile, 16-inch subsea natural gas pipeline, an approximately 2-acre onshore receiving facility connecting to onshore pipelines, and “other appurtenant and ancillary facilities” [1]. Longboard LNG plans to use horizontal directional drilling for the nearshore segment, from the receiving facility to an exit point about 0.8 mile offshore [1].

What is left out. A floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), internationally flagged and leased under a long-term time charter, would take LNG from carriers by ship-to-ship transfer [1]. The notice states the FSRU would be regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard and “would not be part of the LNG terminal facilities subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act” [1]. The power plant the gas would feed is not mentioned in the notice at all [1].

Footprint. Construction would disturb about 270 acres of land and seabed, and Longboard LNG would keep about 27.3 acres for operation [1].

Issues staff has flagged. The environmental document will cover ten general resource areas, from geology and soils to reliability and safety [1]. Staff has already identified three issues for attention: marine and oceanographic conditions; marine transportation; and facility construction and its effects on water resources and marine species [1]. The Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency have said they intend to be cooperating agencies [1]. The notice also opens consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act with the State Historic Preservation Office and with “interested Native Hawaiian organizations” [1].

Capacity. FERC’s import-terminal map dated September 22, 2026, lists the project as “Kalaeloa, HI: 0.14 Bcfd (JERA Americas – Longboard LNG) (PF26-10)” among projects in pre-filing [2]. The same map shows one other import project in pre-filing, Cook Inlet LNG at West Foreland, Alaska (PF26-11), and two filed import applications, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Kenai, Alaska [2].

Where it sits in the process

What is FERC’s pre-filing review for Longboard LNG?

Pre-filing comes before an application. The notice says “no formal application has been filed” and that staff began a NEPA review under the pre-filing process, which is meant to identify and resolve issues before the Commission receives one [1]. The docket opened May 15, 2026 [1]. Hawaii News Now reported on May 22 that JERA had “applied for a federal permit” for an offshore terminal, describing it as the first step toward a power plant that could supply nearly half of Oʻahu’s electricity [4].

This is not the first public input. Civil Beat reported in July that FERC had announced open houses on August 3 and August 5 and was already taking comments online, and quoted a FERC email to stakeholders: “To be clear, please note that this Project has not yet been approved or authorized” [6]. The October notice formalizes scoping with a deadline [1].

What comes after the Nov. 27 comment deadline?

Once an application is filed, staff will decide between an environmental assessment and an environmental impact statement [1]. An EIS would be announced with a notice of intent and schedule, opening another comment period, followed by a draft EIS for comment and then a final [1]. The same sequence played out this year for a larger LNG docket in Louisiana, covered in earlier coverage of the CP2 LNG Expansion Project. FERC will not accept motions to intervene in PF26-10 until the application arrives, and only intervenors may seek rehearing and appeal [1].

JERA said it intends to file its formal application in the first quarter of 2027 and hopes to begin generating power by 2030, according to Hawaii News Now’s September 30 report [8]. The company’s March proposal to the state charts a timeline with “Prefiling and permit approval process” as a step ahead of construction of LNG infrastructure, and lists a permit approval and final investment decision with the date “subject to progress” [3].

The power plant follows a separate state track. JERA notified the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission in July that it would seek approval for a new regulated wholesale generation company, “GenCo,” to own and operate the plant, the Star-Advertiser reported [7].

What the record does not show

  • A review of the whole project. FERC’s document will address only the jurisdictional terminal facilities [1]. The 500-megawatt plant, which the Star-Advertiser reports at $1.5 billion of a roughly $2 billion total, is outside it [7]. Civil Beat reported that the offshore terminal, regasification unit and pipeline together make up about a fourth of the project’s cost [6].
  • Agreement on which offshore pieces FERC covers. Civil Beat reported that Montague described FERC’s Natural Gas Act jurisdiction as applying to the FSRU and mooring system, the pipeline and the onshore receiving facility [6]. The October notice says the FSRU is not jurisdictional and falls to the Coast Guard [1]. The record cited here does not reconcile the two.
  • Gas supply and contract terms. The notice says nothing about where the LNG would come from [1]. JERA’s proposal says it would be “most likely sourced from Canada and Australia” and shipped in compliance with the Jones Act [3].
  • The type of environmental document. Whether staff writes an EA or an EIS is left until after an application [1].
  • A state decision. No ruling by the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission on the GenCo structure appears in the sources cited here [7, 8].
  • Fuel after 2045. JERA’s proposal says the facility “could transition over time to alternative fuels such as hydrogen and renewable natural gas,” without a conversion cost or date [3].

Positions on the record

JERA Americas. The company’s proposal says replacing oil-fired generation could cut generation costs by about 20% and that “this technology would not lock Hawaiʻi into a fossil fuel future” [3]. It notes that about 70% of Oʻahu’s electricity comes from oil [3]. “This is about displacing oil right now and reducing costs and reducing carbon today with a solution that works,” Montague told Hawaii News Now in May [4]. On the scope dispute, he told Civil Beat: “The proposed power generation facility at Campbell Industrial Park is not part of FERC’s review” [6].

State of Hawaiʻi. Gov. Josh Green signed a non-binding strategic partnering agreement with JERA in October 2025, the Star-Advertiser reported [7]. JERA’s proposal dates that agreement October 6, 2025 [3]. “Energy has to become more affordable in Hawaii,” Green said in July [7].

Life of the Land. Henry Curtis, the group’s executive director, was among the first to comment in the FERC docket, according to Civil Beat, and argued the terminal and plant should be reviewed together. “Both parts must be included in the analysis,” he said [6]. He also wants FERC to weigh alternatives such as solar paired with battery storage [6]. On the fuel-switching claim, Curtis told Hawaii News Now: “They have not laid out how much it would cost to convert. They have not laid out whether those are viable” [4].

Local Power Hawaii. The coalition says the plan could need more than $2 billion in infrastructure and pull attention from clean energy projects [5]. “Investing in LNG diverts resources, delays solutions, and creates ongoing fossil fuel dependence,” said Ben Sullivan, a former Kauai Island Utility Cooperative board member [5].

Individual commenters. Kailua resident Erin Kelly wrote, according to Civil Beat: “The EIS must include a thorough, good-faith analysis of whether Hawaiʻi’s electricity reliability needs can be met through renewable energy and storage alternatives without the construction of new fossil fuel import infrastructure” [6].

Hawaiian Electric. The utility has said it worries JERA is positioning itself to be the dominant generating company in Hawaiʻi, according to Hawaii News Now [8].

Whether FERC staff widens its scope in response to those comments, or keeps to the mooring, pipeline and receiving facility, is the question the November 27 deadline puts to the docket.

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

When are scoping comments due on the Longboard LNG project?
FERC must receive them by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on November 27, 2026, in Docket No. PF26-10-000 [1]. Comments sent before the docket opened on May 15, 2026, have to be refiled there to be considered [1].
Where are the Longboard LNG scoping sessions on Oʻahu?
FERC staff will take oral comments from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Hawaiʻi time on November 18 at the Imin International Conference Center in Honolulu and on November 19 at the Kroc Center Hawaiʻi in Ewa Beach [1]. Comments are taken one-on-one with a court reporter [1].
Does FERC review JERA's proposed power plant at Campbell Industrial Park?
No. The notice limits FERC's environmental document to the mooring, subsea pipeline, onshore receiving facility and related facilities [1]. JERA's Erik Montague told Civil Beat the power plant is not part of FERC's review [6].
Can I intervene in the Longboard LNG proceeding now?
Not yet. FERC will not accept intervention requests until Longboard LNG files a formal application, after which a notice will set a deadline [1].
How much gas would the Longboard LNG terminal handle?
FERC's September 2026 import-terminal map lists the project at 0.14 billion cubic feet per day [2].

Note on sourcing

No application has been filed in Docket No. PF26-10-000; the project description here is the one in FERC's October 30 scoping notice and JERA Americas' March 2026 proposal to the State of Hawaiʻi, and it may change before an application is filed. Cost figures differ by source: the Star-Advertiser reports about $500 million for the offshore infrastructure and Civil Beat about $460 million; neither figure appears in a FERC document. The expected filing date (first quarter of 2027) is JERA's statement as reported by Hawaii News Now. Statements by JERA's Erik Montague about which facilities FERC reviews are as reported by Civil Beat. The positions of Life of the Land, Local Power Hawaii and individual commenters are drawn from news reports and from comments as described by Civil Beat; this report does not draw on the comment letters in the FERC docket. The Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission had not ruled on any JERA filing in the record cited here as of publication.

Sources

  1. Longboard TerminalCo, LLC; Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Planned Longboard LNG Project, and Notice of Public Scoping Sessions, 91 FR 68507 (FR Doc. 2026-22161)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, October 30, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. United States LNG Import Terminals (maps), as of September 22, 2026Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, September 22, 2026 · ferc.gov
  3. Proposal to the State of Hawaiʻi: LNG Infrastructure and Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant Development on OʻahuJERA Americas, March 17, 2026 · governor.hawaii.gov
  4. Japanese company seeks first permit to import liquefied natural gas to OahuHawaii News Now, May 22, 2026 · hawaiinewsnow.com
  5. Anti-LNG coalition calls on Hawaii to stop plans to import fossil fuelHawaii News Now, May 23, 2026 · hawaiinewsnow.com
  6. Public Begins To Weigh In On Offshore LNG ProposalHonolulu Civil Beat, July 16, 2026 · civilbeat.org
  7. Japan-based company moves forward with Hawaii LNG planHonolulu Star-Advertiser, July 17, 2026 · staradvertiser.com
  8. Covering the Cost: The cost of bringing liquefied natural gas to HawaiiHawaii News Now, September 30, 2026 · hawaiinewsnow.com

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0026 · Record of decision · 3 shared headingsFERC staff issues final EIS for Sabine Pass Stage 5 LNG expansion, Docket No. CP24-75-001
  2. No. 0015 · Report · 3 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Venture Global's CP2 LNG Expansion Project, Docket Nos. CP26-530 and CP26-533
  3. No. 0001 · Environmental review · 3 shared headingsFERC sets Aug. 21 date for environmental assessment on Constitution Pipeline reissuance, Docket CP13-499-006