Equitrans Midstream Corp. cited “the continued hostility of the Fourth Circuit Court panel” in calling for expeditious passage of federal energy infrastructure reform legislation that “specifically requires the completion of” its 2-bcfd Mountain Valley (MVP) natural gas pipeline project. The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Oct. 25, 2022, relating to Section 401 water quality certification in West Virginia.
The company said that it remains engaged in the federal permitting process but that a combination of the court’s perceived hostility and uncertainty regarding the timelines on which other permitting is proceeding were threatening its ability to meet Mountain Valley’s targeted second-half 2023 in-service date and $6.6-billion total cost. MVP received its Section 401 stream-crossing permit from West Virginia in January 2022, but the permitting has faced nearly continuous legal challenges since.
“There continues to be significant, bipartisan support for federal energy infrastructure permitting reform legislation,” Equitrans chief executive officer Thomas Karam said in a release. “However ... the same panel of judges in the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has again been assigned and appears hostile in a (Mountain Valley) permitting case," Karam said. The Fourth Circuit has already vacated multiple project permits.
Equitrans has an approximate 48.1% ownership interest in Mountain Valley and will operate the pipeline. Its partners in MVP LLC are NextEra Energy Inc., Consolidated Edison Inc., AltaGas Ltd., and RGC Resources Inc.
Equitrans also said the Mountain Valley JV continues to evaluate its 300-MMcfd MVP Southgate project, including engaging in discussions with anchor shipper Dominion Energy North Carolina regarding likely changes to the project design, scope, and timing. MVP LLC last month filed a voluntary dismissal of eminent domain proceedings regarding the 73-mile pipeline (OGJ Online, Oct. 24, 2022).
On Sept. 30, 2022, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a draft environmental impact statement for Equitrans’s 350-MMcfd Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Project (OVCX). OVCX is designed to meet growing gas demand through existing interconnects in Clarington, Ohio, with long-haul pipelines. Equitrans is targeting first-half 2024 in-service.