The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the proposed Atlantic Coast interstate natural gas pipeline project.
“This is the most significant milestone yet for a project that will bring jobs, economic growth, and cleaner energy to our region,” said Leslie Hartz, vice-president for engineering and construction at Dominion Energy, the project's primary sponsor, in response to FERC’s Oct. 13 action.
Dominion plans to fully review the certificate and finalize plans for complying with its conditions, Hartz said. Dominion also intends to continue working with the other state and federal agencies to complete the environmental review process and make the project a reality, Hartz said.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC applied to FERC on Sept. 18, 2015, to construct and operate the project, which was intended to transport gas from West Virginia to the eastern portions of Virginia and North Carolina. It filed an amended proposal 6 months later which proposed several route changes and additional compression capacity in Buckingham County, Va.
The amended project consists of 604 miles of interstate pipeline and related facilities with 130,345 hp of compression. It is designed to provide up to 1.5 million decatherms/day of transportation service.
The project is owned by subsidiaries of Dominion Energy Inc. (48%) in Richmond, Va.; Duke Energy Corp. (47%) in Charlotte, NC; and Southern Co. (5%) in Atlanta.
Hartz said FERC’s three commissioners acknowledged the need for more gas systems in Virginia and North Carolina. “In her dissent, Commissioner [Cheryl] LaFleur noted that more than 90% of the ACP’s capacity is subscribed by public utility customers in the two states,” she said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].