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Released May 29, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Since the start of construction in 2018, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), designed to carry natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica fields in West Virginia to a hub in Virginia, has been embroiled in a tug-o-war between the energy industry and environmental interests. Now it appears poised to begin operations sometime in early June.
Industrial Info has been tracking the project since its inception in 2017, when MVP filed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can click here for the related active project reports.
Shane Mullins, Industrial Info's vice president of energy products and project development, said: "There is already a small amount of gas flowing on the MVP, according to data we are tracking from flow meters installed in February by Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and Columbia Gas (Columbus, Ohio)."
The flow amounts at the MVP meter are small, representing test flows rather than full operations in the northern section of the pipeline. The Equitrans MVP meters are among about 20,000 active meters that Industrial Info monitors for clients daily across North America.
Stops and Starts
Here is some of the pipeline's recent history. On May 21, MVP asked the U. S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to push back its previous start date of "prior to June 1" to "early June," citing "the extended construction duration to achieve weld-out, which has been associated with weather and environmental protection." Earlier, on April 22, MVP had asked for FERC authorization to put the pipeline in service by May 23, to make its previous in-service date of "prior to June 1."
About the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a District of Columbia Circuit court decision that dismissed a lawsuit from a group of Virginia landowners disputing FERC's eminent domain authority in the MVP case. That lawsuit began in 2020, asserting that Congress had erred in transferring legislative eminent domain power to FERC. The agency had invoked that authority to allow MVP's developers to take private property for the line, because FERC said it believed it was in the public interest.
MVP reported that one delay this spring involved a rupture in the pipeline during a water pressure test. While that sounds disturbing, Mullins explained that this test is run at many times the pipe's rated capacity, for the very purpose of ensuring the line can easily handle its typical load.
At a cost of $7.85 billion, the MVP is the Northeast's only current large pipeline project. A combination of court challenges, regulatory delays and engineering issues have stopped construction repeatedly since the first dirt was turned in 2018.
At that time, the MVP's lead partner, Equitrans Midstream, had projected the pipeline's cost would be around $3.5 billion, with service beginning by later that year. If the line does begin operating in June, that would be a delay of nearly six years.
A major step toward completing MVP came with Congressional action in 2023's bipartisan debt ceiling agreement, promoted and negotiated by Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), to streamline the process. According to MVP's website, the law "approved all permits and authorizations necessary for the construction and initial operation of the MVP and directed the applicable federal agencies to maintain such authorizations."
MVP is a joint venture formed among affiliates of Equitrans Midstream Corporation; NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida); Consolidated Edison Incorporated (NYSE:ED) (New York, New York); AltaGas Limited and RGC Resources Incorporated (NASDAQ:RGCO) (Roanoke, Virginia). Operation of the pipeline will be managed by Equitrans Midstream, which also will own a significant interest in the joint venture.
When fully operational, the 303-mile pipeline is expected to carry up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas to markets in the mid- and south-Atlantic regions of the U.S. It connects with Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company's (Transco) Zone 5 compressor station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Transco is owned by Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma).
Considering the MVP's tortuous route to completion, Mullins said he believes it may be the end of the line for gas coming out of the Marcellus/Utica area. "MVP is likely the last major natural gas pipeline we will ever see out of that region" due to environmental, regulatory and cost obstacles, he said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Industrial Info has been tracking the project since its inception in 2017, when MVP filed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can click here for the related active project reports.
Shane Mullins, Industrial Info's vice president of energy products and project development, said: "There is already a small amount of gas flowing on the MVP, according to data we are tracking from flow meters installed in February by Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and Columbia Gas (Columbus, Ohio)."
The flow amounts at the MVP meter are small, representing test flows rather than full operations in the northern section of the pipeline. The Equitrans MVP meters are among about 20,000 active meters that Industrial Info monitors for clients daily across North America.
Stops and Starts
Here is some of the pipeline's recent history. On May 21, MVP asked the U. S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to push back its previous start date of "prior to June 1" to "early June," citing "the extended construction duration to achieve weld-out, which has been associated with weather and environmental protection." Earlier, on April 22, MVP had asked for FERC authorization to put the pipeline in service by May 23, to make its previous in-service date of "prior to June 1."
About the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a District of Columbia Circuit court decision that dismissed a lawsuit from a group of Virginia landowners disputing FERC's eminent domain authority in the MVP case. That lawsuit began in 2020, asserting that Congress had erred in transferring legislative eminent domain power to FERC. The agency had invoked that authority to allow MVP's developers to take private property for the line, because FERC said it believed it was in the public interest.
MVP reported that one delay this spring involved a rupture in the pipeline during a water pressure test. While that sounds disturbing, Mullins explained that this test is run at many times the pipe's rated capacity, for the very purpose of ensuring the line can easily handle its typical load.
At a cost of $7.85 billion, the MVP is the Northeast's only current large pipeline project. A combination of court challenges, regulatory delays and engineering issues have stopped construction repeatedly since the first dirt was turned in 2018.
At that time, the MVP's lead partner, Equitrans Midstream, had projected the pipeline's cost would be around $3.5 billion, with service beginning by later that year. If the line does begin operating in June, that would be a delay of nearly six years.
A major step toward completing MVP came with Congressional action in 2023's bipartisan debt ceiling agreement, promoted and negotiated by Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), to streamline the process. According to MVP's website, the law "approved all permits and authorizations necessary for the construction and initial operation of the MVP and directed the applicable federal agencies to maintain such authorizations."
MVP is a joint venture formed among affiliates of Equitrans Midstream Corporation; NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida); Consolidated Edison Incorporated (NYSE:ED) (New York, New York); AltaGas Limited and RGC Resources Incorporated (NASDAQ:RGCO) (Roanoke, Virginia). Operation of the pipeline will be managed by Equitrans Midstream, which also will own a significant interest in the joint venture.
When fully operational, the 303-mile pipeline is expected to carry up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas to markets in the mid- and south-Atlantic regions of the U.S. It connects with Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company's (Transco) Zone 5 compressor station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Transco is owned by Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma).
Considering the MVP's tortuous route to completion, Mullins said he believes it may be the end of the line for gas coming out of the Marcellus/Utica area. "MVP is likely the last major natural gas pipeline we will ever see out of that region" due to environmental, regulatory and cost obstacles, he said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
