Four energy companies have formed a joint venture to advance the proposed 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline to transport Marcellus and Utica natural gas to Virginia and North Carolina.
On September 2, 2014, Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources announced a joint venture to build the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline to provide growing mid-Atlantic markets with a new route to access Marcellus and Utica basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The partnership, called Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, will own the proposed 550-mile natural gas pipeline, formerly called Southeast Reliability Project. The project would cost an estimated $4.5B-$5B and have an initial capacity of 1.5 Bcf/d of natural gas. It would run from Harrison County, West Virginia to Robeson County, North Carolina.
Proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline Route (dom)
Dominion, which operates approximately 8,000 miles of interstate pipeline across six U.S. states, will build and operate the proposed pipeline. It has begun preliminary survey for the best route that meets operational and reliability needs with minimal impact to environment and cultural resources. The partner companies’ subsidiaries, affiliates, and PSNC Energy plan to be customers of the proposed pipeline under 20-year contracts. Dominion expects to secure the necessary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval by summer 2016 and put the pipeline into service by late 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. Dominion will have 45 percent stake in the project, Duke 40 percent, Piedmont 10 percent, and AGL Resources 5 percent.
The project partners noted that Virginia has limited access to Marcellus and Utica supplies and requires additional infrastructure to support increasing demand for natural gas-fired generation and increase supply diversity for reliability and price stability. Currently, North Carolina is supplied primarily by a single wholesale interstate pipeline that runs through the state’s western portion.
Originally published by EnerKnol.
Founded in 2011, EnerKnol provides U.S. energy policy research and data services to support investment decisions across all sectors of the energy industry. Headquartered in New York City, EnerKnol is proud to be a NYC ACRE company.
