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Released October 08, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As Williams Companies Incorporated (Tulsa, Oklahoma) battles opposing voices regarding two natural gas pipelines in New York, the company is attempting to absorb the volumes carried by another proposed project in Virginia and North Carolina.
Does the name Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) ring any bells? The project, initially proposed in 2014, faced years of permitting problems, court fights and regulatory issues before former U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2023 shielding it from further judicial review. The pipeline's developers, led by Equitrans Midstream (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), initially expected construction to last two years, with completion occurring in 2018. In June 2024, the MVP finally went into operation, carrying natural gas more than 300 miles from West Virginia to Virginia.
But Equitrans and its partners have further plans for the pipeline. They want to build MVP Southgate, a 31-mile extension that takes the pipeline into North Carolina. The problem? Williams is proposing a similar project in virtually the same place, doubly concerning area residents and leading the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to question the need for both lines. Williams, however, may have played a masterstroke in an earlier permitting application to FERC, stating the proposed expansion of its Transco pipeline system could, in fact, handle the additional gas that would be carried by MVP Southgate.
Williams' Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) is geared toward multiple southeastern states, including Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and both Carolinas. It's the portion in North Carolina (28.4 miles of new pipeline) and Virginia (26.4 miles of new pipe) that is raising eyebrows, potentially duplicating MVP Southgate's load, which may make one of the projects redundant. But which one? Both projects are set to carry gas from Virginia's Pittsylvania County into North Carolina, with the Williams project extending a little more than 20 miles longer.
FERC this week completed the environmental review on Equitrans' MVP Southgate project, and the results came with a bit of a warning regarding the fate of the project. In July, Williams submitted an amendment to the regulatory agency, noting that the Virginia-North Carolina section of SSE potentially could handle all of the gas moved by MVP Southgate simply by increasing the power at a single compressor station.
And FERC seems to have listened. In this week's environmental assessment of the final plans for the MVP Southgate project, which were somewhat altered in February, shortening the route and removing a compressor station, FERC stated that Williams' project would be part of the final decision on whether MVP Southgate should move forward. Mentioning Williams' Transco project in the Equitrans-led Southgate project's final review, the agency stated: "[W]e conclude that the Transco System Alternative would provide an environmental advantage over the proposed [MVP Southgate] Amendment Project because the SSE Project could supply both its own customers and Mountain Valley's customers with a single pipeline instead of two separate and similar pipelines, thereby significantly reducing environmental effects."
FERC's environmental review of the Williams project is expected to be published next month, but the agency's interest in the SSE's doing all of the work of both proposed pipelines appears to be a point in favor of a future positive decision for the Williams project and possible disappointment for MVP Southgate's developers.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related reports on the MVP Southgate and Williams' Transco projects.
While FERC's apparent favoring of the Williams project doesn't come with the strength of an all-out endorsement, Williams recently received some concrete news regarding another project, its Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project. The NESE project would run approximately 37 miles from Pennsylvania to Long Island, bringing much-needed natural gas to National Grid's (London, England) New York City customers. That route includes more than 23 miles underneath Raritan Bay, and in late September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization, allowing Williams to incidentally disturb marine mammals during the construction process.
But an even more significant milestone for the project was passed before that, on August 28, when FERC gave its approval for the project, leaving most of the remaining permits in the hands of the state. FERC's prior authorization of the project expired in 2024, after permitting refusals in New York and New Jersey pushed the project past the authorization period. New York rejected the pipeline on environmental grounds in 2018, 2019 and 2020, so whether its Department of Environmental Conservation deems the project build-worthy remains to be seen.
The NESE project joins another controversial proposed Williams gas project in New York, which also was previously rejected by the state: the Constitution Pipeline. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation rejected this project due to water quality concerns in 2016, and after multiple appeals and court cases leading to the U.S. Supreme Court's ultimately declining to hear an appeals case, Williams officially canceled the project in 2020.
But now, like the NESE project, plans for the Constitution Pipeline are back on the table. But this time, the project has a key proponent: U.S. President Donald Trump. Since his return to office for a second term, Trump has backed a revival of the project. While New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) has denied any collusion with the Trump administration, the governor appeared to strike a decidedly more favorable tone toward the project after Trump lifted the stop-work order on the fully permitted Empire 1 offshore windfarm project, which is set to bring more than 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable generation to New York. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Project Database can click here for more details on the project.
While Williams has resubmitted an application with FERC for Constitution, New York is making the unorthodox move of beginning its own reviews of the project before a new federal application is issued. The Hochul administration has said it will perform impartial reviews of both the Constitution and NESE projects, taking an "all-of-the-above" approach to new energy projects, leading to an outcry from multiple environmental groups and possibly affecting Hochul's bid for reelection next year.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the NESE and Constitution projects.
So, with language suggesting Williams' Transco enhancements in Virginia and North Carolina are being viewed favorably and newfound support in the revived NESE and Constitution projects, Williams could in the near future find itself moving ahead with three valuable projects that previously might have faced decidedly more difficulties in moving forward.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for several of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Does the name Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) ring any bells? The project, initially proposed in 2014, faced years of permitting problems, court fights and regulatory issues before former U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2023 shielding it from further judicial review. The pipeline's developers, led by Equitrans Midstream (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), initially expected construction to last two years, with completion occurring in 2018. In June 2024, the MVP finally went into operation, carrying natural gas more than 300 miles from West Virginia to Virginia.
But Equitrans and its partners have further plans for the pipeline. They want to build MVP Southgate, a 31-mile extension that takes the pipeline into North Carolina. The problem? Williams is proposing a similar project in virtually the same place, doubly concerning area residents and leading the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to question the need for both lines. Williams, however, may have played a masterstroke in an earlier permitting application to FERC, stating the proposed expansion of its Transco pipeline system could, in fact, handle the additional gas that would be carried by MVP Southgate.
Williams' Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) is geared toward multiple southeastern states, including Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and both Carolinas. It's the portion in North Carolina (28.4 miles of new pipeline) and Virginia (26.4 miles of new pipe) that is raising eyebrows, potentially duplicating MVP Southgate's load, which may make one of the projects redundant. But which one? Both projects are set to carry gas from Virginia's Pittsylvania County into North Carolina, with the Williams project extending a little more than 20 miles longer.
FERC this week completed the environmental review on Equitrans' MVP Southgate project, and the results came with a bit of a warning regarding the fate of the project. In July, Williams submitted an amendment to the regulatory agency, noting that the Virginia-North Carolina section of SSE potentially could handle all of the gas moved by MVP Southgate simply by increasing the power at a single compressor station.
And FERC seems to have listened. In this week's environmental assessment of the final plans for the MVP Southgate project, which were somewhat altered in February, shortening the route and removing a compressor station, FERC stated that Williams' project would be part of the final decision on whether MVP Southgate should move forward. Mentioning Williams' Transco project in the Equitrans-led Southgate project's final review, the agency stated: "[W]e conclude that the Transco System Alternative would provide an environmental advantage over the proposed [MVP Southgate] Amendment Project because the SSE Project could supply both its own customers and Mountain Valley's customers with a single pipeline instead of two separate and similar pipelines, thereby significantly reducing environmental effects."
FERC's environmental review of the Williams project is expected to be published next month, but the agency's interest in the SSE's doing all of the work of both proposed pipelines appears to be a point in favor of a future positive decision for the Williams project and possible disappointment for MVP Southgate's developers.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related reports on the MVP Southgate and Williams' Transco projects.
While FERC's apparent favoring of the Williams project doesn't come with the strength of an all-out endorsement, Williams recently received some concrete news regarding another project, its Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project. The NESE project would run approximately 37 miles from Pennsylvania to Long Island, bringing much-needed natural gas to National Grid's (London, England) New York City customers. That route includes more than 23 miles underneath Raritan Bay, and in late September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization, allowing Williams to incidentally disturb marine mammals during the construction process.
But an even more significant milestone for the project was passed before that, on August 28, when FERC gave its approval for the project, leaving most of the remaining permits in the hands of the state. FERC's prior authorization of the project expired in 2024, after permitting refusals in New York and New Jersey pushed the project past the authorization period. New York rejected the pipeline on environmental grounds in 2018, 2019 and 2020, so whether its Department of Environmental Conservation deems the project build-worthy remains to be seen.
The NESE project joins another controversial proposed Williams gas project in New York, which also was previously rejected by the state: the Constitution Pipeline. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation rejected this project due to water quality concerns in 2016, and after multiple appeals and court cases leading to the U.S. Supreme Court's ultimately declining to hear an appeals case, Williams officially canceled the project in 2020.
But now, like the NESE project, plans for the Constitution Pipeline are back on the table. But this time, the project has a key proponent: U.S. President Donald Trump. Since his return to office for a second term, Trump has backed a revival of the project. While New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) has denied any collusion with the Trump administration, the governor appeared to strike a decidedly more favorable tone toward the project after Trump lifted the stop-work order on the fully permitted Empire 1 offshore windfarm project, which is set to bring more than 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable generation to New York. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Project Database can click here for more details on the project.
While Williams has resubmitted an application with FERC for Constitution, New York is making the unorthodox move of beginning its own reviews of the project before a new federal application is issued. The Hochul administration has said it will perform impartial reviews of both the Constitution and NESE projects, taking an "all-of-the-above" approach to new energy projects, leading to an outcry from multiple environmental groups and possibly affecting Hochul's bid for reelection next year.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the NESE and Constitution projects.
So, with language suggesting Williams' Transco enhancements in Virginia and North Carolina are being viewed favorably and newfound support in the revived NESE and Constitution projects, Williams could in the near future find itself moving ahead with three valuable projects that previously might have faced decidedly more difficulties in moving forward.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for several of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
