Equitrans sees Mountain Valley natgas pipeline entering service next summer

RGC Resources

02/11/2021 12:35

Nov 2 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline company Equitrans Midstream
Corp  ETRN.N  said on Tuesday the venture building the $6.2
billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia
to Virginia still expects the project to enter service in the
summer of 2022.
    Mountain Valley is one of several U.S. pipelines delayed by
regulatory and legal fights with environmental and local groups
that found problems with federal permits issued during President
Donald Trump's administration.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QU1HK
    When Mountain Valley construction started in February 2018,
Equitrans estimated the 303-mile (488-km),
2.0-billion-cubic-feet-per-day (bcfd) project would cost about
$3.5 billion and enter service by late 2018.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RS10S
    Equitrans said in its third-quarter earnings release that it
expects environmental regulators in West Virginia and Virginia
to complete their water quality reviews by Nov. 29 and Dec. 31,
respectively, allowing the project to stick with its targeted
summer 2022 start date.
    Those so called Section 401 water quality certifications
cover about 300 water crossings.
    Equitrans, which has a roughly 47.8% ownership interest in
Mountain Valley and will operate the pipe, said it has funded
about $2.4 billion of the project as of Sept. 30.
    Based on Mountain Valleys' targeted in-service date,
Equitrans said it expects to start construction of the 75-mile
(121-km) Mountain Valley Southgate extension from Virginia to
North Carolina in 2022, which will allow that project to enter
service in the spring of 2023.
    Southgate will cost about $450 million to $500 million and
is backed by a 0.3-bcfd commitment from Dominion Energy Inc's
 D.N  North Carolina unit.
    Equitrans, which owns 47.2% of Southgate and will operate
the pipe, said it could be expanded to provide up to 0.9 bcfd of
gas.
    The Mountain Valley venture is owned by units of Equitrans,
NextEra Energy Inc  NEE.N , Consolidated Edison Inc  ED.N ,
AltaGas Ltd  ALA.TO  and RGC Resources Inc  RGCO.O .

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RGC sees Mountain Valley gas pipeline completion by end 2021
-CEO     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KI1OJ
MVP Southgate natgas pipe startup seen in 2021 despite
N.Carolina permit denial     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2FE1FI
UPDATE 1-Panel favors Equitrans in EQT PA-WV Hammerhead natgas
pipe dispute     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RM25G
FACTBOX-U.S. new natural gas pipeline projects     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RS10S
EXPLAINER-U.S. Appalachian gas pipeline projects go by the
wayside     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QU1HK
UPDATE 2-Mountain Valley natgas pipeline start delayed to summer
2022     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MR17P
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 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino
Editing by Paul Simao)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))