The nation's top energy regulator authorized a major energy developer to move forward with a natural gas expansion project in the Pacific Northwest.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a certificate Thursday for the so-called Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTNXP), which will upgrade three existing compressor stations and increase capacity on an existing system that has transported natural gas for decades. GTNXP developer TC Energy; GOP lawmakers in Oregon, Idaho and Washington; and labor unions have all called on FERC to issue the certificate.

"The GTN XPress project will play a critical role in keeping energy affordable and reliable for consumers in California and the Pacific Northwest," TC Energy spokesperson Michael Tadeo told Fox News Digital. "We appreciate FERC’s bipartisan action today to approve the project and will work diligently to place it into service as soon as possible."

According to TC Energy's application filed with FERC in October 2021, the $75 million project will leverage existing infrastructure to increase GTN's incremental mainline capacity by 150,000 dekatherms per day — enough to power roughly 500,000 additional homes in the region. The operational GTN pipeline travels through Idaho, Washington and Oregon and serves California customers.