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E&E News
a day ago
- Business
- E&E News
Two pipelines, one path: Will FERC approve both?
Two energy giants plan to build natural gas pipelines in the same place — setting the stage for a high-stakes squabble in the Southeast. Both Williams Cos. and Mountain Valley Pipeline are trying to lay new pipe along Williams' existing Transco line in southern Virginia and North Carolina to meet growing energy demand. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could approve both. But Williams has argued that its pipeline is big enough to handle all planned volumes of natural gas — prompting Mountain Valley to bristle at the implication that its Southgate project isn't necessary. Advertisement 'It seems as though Transco is attempting to undercut MVP Southgate,' Ian Heming, a natural gas analyst at East Daley Analytics, said in a recent interview. That is noteworthy in the world of energy permitting. While FERC is required to consider whether a pipeline is needed, the agency generally defines need as whether companies have committed to buying the gas the line would carry. Williams has cast a broader net, telling FERC in a short filing this month that the company could tack on Southgate's 'incremental' volumes by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station. The companies' push to build the pipelines comes as electricity demand across the United States is forecast to surge in the coming years. That includes the Southeast, where utilities are looking to build new fossil fuel plants to power a growing population and planned data centers. Both Williams' and Mountain Valley's projects cite that demand at the heart of their proposals. Both companies are proposing to build about 30 miles of pipe along Williams' massive Gulf-to-New York Transco gas pipeline system. Both pipelines — MVP Southgate and the Eden Loop segment of Williams' Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) — would start at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and end near Eden, North Carolina. FERC is planning to release environmental assessments of both projects this fall, with the review for Williams' SSEP slated for November and the analysis for MVP Southgate scheduled for October. What's not being considered is the interest of ratepayers, said Shelley Robbins, senior decarbonization manager at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Her group doesn't think either pipeline is needed — and has safety concerns about plans to have the two lines repeatedly cross each other and the Transco main line. But Robbins said regulators don't seem to be looking at any advantages of building one pipe instead of two. 'In theory, that's cheaper,' Robbins said. But, she added, 'the utilities and the pipeline companies make money building big things.' Dueling projects Building both pipelines would create a 30-mile corridor with up to six high-pressure gas lines running next to each other. The Transco system already includes as many as four parallel pipelines in that area. The MVP Southgate project aims to move gas from the end of the main Mountain Valley pipeline — where it connects to Transco in Virginia — to Eden, North Carolina. Another company is building a 45-mile pipeline from that point east to a planned Duke Energy natural gas-fired power plant near Roxboro, North Carolina. FERC approved Southgate in 2020, but Mountain Valley submitted an application in February to amend the expansion project by shrinking the pipeline's length and increasing its diameter. The entire length of the proposed Southgate project now runs next to Williams' Transco pipeline. In total, Williams' Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement project would add approximately 55 miles of new pipe in two segments in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, as well as new compressor units. One 24-mile segment, the Salem Loop, cuts between the North Carolina cities of Winston-Salem and Greensboro. The other, the 30-mile Eden Loop, straddles the North Carolina-Virginia border and follows the same path of MVP Southgate. It's unclear if Williams will ultimately decide to expand the capacity of the Eden Loop. But the company is essentially arguing in its FERC filings that it has the ability to expand and then 'would be able to essentially hold its almost full monopoly on gas into North Carolina, and that's what its goal is here,' said Heming at East Daley Analytics. Mountain Valley, however, is asserting that the Southgate project would provide a needed redundancy to utilities that are supplying gas to North Carolina residents. 'The market has spoken, and shippers are asking for a pipeline alternative to Transco to support increased competition for transportation services in the region, and to provide critically needed natural gas pipeline capacity and diversity of supply to the region,' Mountain Valley told FERC in a July 11 letter. Mountain Valley included supportive comments from the Public Service Co. of North Carolina and Duke Energy, two utilities that have signed contracts for the project's full capacity. MVP Southgate spokesperson Shawn Day said the amended project gives North Carolina a diverse energy supply and resilience. 'While Transco may not like competition, the market does,' Day said in a statement. 'The vast majority of North Carolina's natural gas supply has historically been controlled by a single provider,' Day said. 'For years, the North Carolina Utilities Commission has recognized the state needs an additional interstate natural gas transmission provider to diversify the state's natural gas supply and promote competition.' Williams said it will continue to engage with parties like Mountain Valley to ensure the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project can deliver energy. 'We acknowledge that there is a market desire for a second interstate pipeline to bring supplies into North Carolina,' Williams said in an emailed statement. The company did not respond to subsequent questions for clarity on whether it believes the Southgate line is necessary. A demonstrated need? The Trump administration's pro-fossil-fuel agenda makes it more likely that FERC would green-light MVP Southgate and 'provide that redundant gas supply, rather than have it be integrated into Transco's Southeast Supply Enhancement,' Heming said. FERC, though, has stayed mum. Asked after last month's FERC meeting whether both pipelines are needed, Chair Mark Christie (R) said he couldn't comment because the applications for the two pipeline projects are still pending. 'The question of need under the Natural Gas Act is always a central question of any NGA application, so I can't talk about either one of them,' Christie said. FERC spokesperson Celeste Miller subsequently declined to comment on questions about the two pipeline projects. At least one environmental group, meanwhile, said both pipeline projects are unnecessary. 'We don't accept that there is a shown need for the projects, and it's part of this broader over-expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure to serve data centers and [artificial intelligence],' said Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator for the group Appalachian Voices. Sims, who was involved in the fight against the main Mountain Valley pipeline, said she hopes that neither project will get approved. 'I hope that the uniqueness of the co-located routes and the types of conversations that we're seeing in the docket would lead [FERC] to consider cumulative impacts in this circumstance,' Sims said.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Constellation Energy receives nod from FERC for Calpine acquisition
July 24 (Reuters) - Utility company Constellation Energy (CEG.O), opens new tab said on Thursday it has received a regulatory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its previously announced $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine Corporation. This approval represents a step forward in the transaction following earlier approvals by the New York Public Service Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the company said.
The Hill
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Trump nominates new energy regulator to replace Democrat he asked to step down
President Trump on Thursday announced a new nominee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to fill the seat of a previous Democratic commissioner who stepped down at the White House's request. Trump nominated David LaCerte, whose LinkedIn lists him as an official with the White House Office of Personnel Management, to the commission. FERC regulates interstate energy transmission, including electricity and pipelines. LaCerte is also listed as a contributor to Project 2025, a controversial conservative plan for how to run the government under a GOP president such as Trump. FERC is an independent agency made up of five commissioners who serve fixed terms. It can have no more than three commissioners of the same political party. It had a 3-2 Democratic majority. However, Commissioner Willie Phillips stepped down in April, saying, 'I heard from the White House, and they expressed their interest that I step aside.'
Reuters
15-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Venture Global proposes larger expansion at Plaquemines LNG facility, filing shows
HOUSTON, July 15 (Reuters) - Venture Global (VG.N), opens new tab wants to expand its Plaquemines LNG export facility by 24.8 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), almost 6 mtpa more than it originally proposed just four months ago, according to a regulatory filing issued late on Monday. Venture Global is already constructing the United States' second-largest LNG plant in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and on March 6, announced plans to expand the facility by an initial 18.6 mtpa. It is now asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to increase the expansion to 24.8 mtpa, the filing shows. Venture Global has been able to quickly build and ramp up production from its LNG facilities. It has played a key role in keeping the U.S. the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas and last month was responsible for a quarter of all U.S. LNG exports, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG. "As a result of this modification, the proposed production capacity of the project has increased from approximately 18.6 million tonnes per annum to approximately 24.8 mtpa," Venture Global told FERC. Venture Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As a result of the increased size of the proposed project Venture Global wants permission to utilize an additional 586-acre area to the east of the previously submitted project footprint, according to the FERC filing. Venture Global has in production and under construction 40 mtpa of LNG and is nearing a financial decision on another plant, CP2, that is expected to add 28 mtpa of LNG for export. If its planned expansion of Plaquemines goes ahead, it could export 92 mtpa by the turn of the decade, making it one of the three top LNG producers in the world.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Enstor Receives FERC Notice to Proceed with Construction for Expansion of Mississippi Hub Natural Gas Storage Facility
Enstor Plans to Begin Construction Immediately HOUSTON, July 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emerald Storage Holdings LLC, the parent company of Enstor Gas, LLC and Mississippi Hub, LLC, today announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a Notice to Proceed with Construction for the Mississippi Hub Expansion Project. Mississippi Hub is a high-deliverability underground natural gas storage facility located on the Bond Salt Dome in Simpson County, Mississippi. The Expansion Project includes three additional storage caverns, each with approximately 10 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of working storage capacity, as well as incremental expansion of the hub's existing caverns. In total, the Mississippi Hub Expansion Project will add up to 33.5 Bcf of new working gas capacity and up to 0.7 million dekatherms per day (MMDth/day) of new injection capacity. Upon completion of the expansion, Mississippi Hub's total working gas storage capacity is expected to be 56.3 Bcf, approximately 2.5 times the facility's present capacity. The injection capacity will increase to a total of 1.90 MMDth/day and the withdrawal capacity will remain at 2.40 MMDth/day, as previously certificated before the expansion. Enstor plans to begin construction immediately and anticipates the expansion to be in-service by 2028. About Enstor Enstor is one of the largest privately owned natural gas storage companies in the United States. Headquartered in Houston, the company owns and operates six active underground natural gas storage facilities in four states with more than 110 Bcf in working gas capacity. Enstor has approximately 170 miles of transmission pipelines and 39 interconnects to major transmission pipelines. For more information, please visit About Mississippi Hub, LLC Enstor's Mississippi Hub is a FERC-certified high-deliverability underground facility located on the Bond Salt Dome in Simpson County, Mississippi. Mississippi Hub has multiple pipeline interconnections and is ideally located to serve growing demand centers. The facility today has three storage caverns holding up to 22.4 Bcf of working gas. The facility offers close proximity to major interstate pipelines and pipeline expansion projects that access major downstream natural gas markets. It also provides access to major sources of shale gas production, liquefied natural gas exports, as well as traditional gas supplies along the Gulf Coast. For additional details please visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Enstor Gasmedia@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
