(The Center Square) – The fate of a Mountain Valley Pipeline extension to carry natural gas into North Carolina is with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The commission will review public comments on a proposed three-year extension for completion of the MVP Southgate pipeline project to June 2026. Monday was the final day for submissions.
The unfinished $500 million project, mired by legal challenges for the past five years, is projected to move 375 million cubic feet of natural gas from the main Mountain Valley Pipeline in southern Virginia about 75 miles through Rockingham and Alamance counties.
Required Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity permits for the extension expired in June. This was just weeks after Congress approved construction of the main Mountain Valley Pipeline as part of an agreement between President Joe Biden and Republicans to raise the federal debt ceiling.
The deal requires fast-tracked approvals for the main pipeline, which has faced numerous water-quality violations, fines and legal challenges from environmentalists. Those complications with the main line were cited by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as a major reason it rejected water quality permits for the extension in 2020.
Construction of both the main line and extension have split North Carolina political leaders along party lines, with Republicans generally siding with the energy industry in support and Democrats with environmentalists in opposition.
Comments submitted to the commission by Duke Energy contend the project is important for meeting the state’s carbon reduction goals.
“New natural gas electric generation is required in the Carolinas to meet increasing load, to support reliability, to satisfy the Companies’ integrated resource plans and to keep the Companies on track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” the company wrote.
Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican candidate for governor, also submitted comments in support, highlighting both the economic benefits and risk of relying on a single source for natural gas.
“Insufficient energy infrastructure and a lack of diversity in interstate natural gas supply pose a threat to North Carolina’s ability to support its tremendous population growth, high quality of life and status as a great state for business,” Folwell said.
Folwell estimates the extension construction would support 1,130 North Carolina jobs and generate $6.3 million in state and local taxes. Once complete, it’s expected to generate $3.4 million in new ad valorem tax revenue, he said.
Democratic North Carolina Congresswomen Valerie Foushee and Kathy Manning cited local resistance and environmental concerns in urging the commission to reject the permit extension. Sierra Club officials and Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton have spoken out against for similar reasons as well.
“In North Carolina, the Alamance County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution opposing the MVP Southgate because of its expected consequences for the Haw River, public safety, and private property,” the congresswomen wrote. “Our constituents have also shared their concerns about the MVP exercising eminent domain to complete construction of the extension, which would threaten private property and family farms.”
Mountain Valley’s June 16 commission filing to request the extra three years for the extension states the company expects to complete and activate the main line by the end of the year.
Company officials have declined to discuss a timeline for the Southgate extension, which would require further approvals from state and federal officials.
