Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE:D) has announced that it is still on track in its plan to finish the $5 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline which runs from West Virginia to North Carolina. The company expects to finish the project in late 2019.
The company announced this in response to after the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) turned down the company’s request for more time to cut trees. In an email, Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby said the company has a clear path to start construction and finish the project in late 2019.
Ruby added that the company has finished cutting trees on over 200 miles of the 600 mile route. Although this is less than what the company had planned to accomplish this year, Ruby says they will still have an eventful and productive season. He added that the company is considering rearranging its construction plans and move some work to 2019.
One of the hurdles that the company has been facing is a ban on tree cutting which had been imposed by the Virginia state. On August 30, the state lifted the tree clearing restrictions on migrating habitats. In a statement, Kelly Martin, a director at Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign said the decision is a win for communities which are in the path of the project.
After completion, the Atlantic Coast will carry a total of1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas from West Virginia, the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania to customers in North Carolina and Virginia. One billion cubic feet of gas is just enough to power around 5 million homes in the US for one day.
Atlantic Coast is a collaboration of several units of Georgia Energy Company Southern Co, Duke Energy Corp, North Carolina energy and Virginia Energy Company. The pipe will be built and operated by Dominion.
In order to feed the gas into the Atlantic Coast plus other pipelines, Dominion is planning to construct a 38-mile Supply Header project, which will be located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This project will be constructed at a cost of $500million.
