Mountain Valley Pipeline and its opponents are facing off over the natural gas pipeline company’s plans to extend its footprint through southern Pittsylvania County into North Carolina.
Mountain Valley’s main pipeline runs 303 miles from West Virginia through six Virginia counties, ending at a compressor station in Pittsylvania. The company has proposed building a 31-mile extension, called Southgate, from the main pipeline in Pittsylvania into Rockingham County, North Carolina.
Mountain Valley says Southgate is needed to deliver natural gas to North Carolina, where it notes that the extension’s proposed gas capacity is already fully subscribed to by two utilities. It also points to support from elected officials, landowners, business groups and others.
“We are grateful for the strong community support for this important project, and we are committed to working collaboratively with local, state and federal officials to ensure MVP Southgate helps to meet public demand for reliable, affordable and lower-carbon energy,” said Mountain Valley spokesperson Shawn Day.
In 2020, federal regulators granted Mountain Valley a certificate that it needs to move forward with the project, and they renewed it in 2023. On Feb. 3, Mountain Valley asked to amend the certificate based on a revised plan, which now calls for a shorter route using a wider pipe, among other changes.
Southgate is anticipated to cost $370 million. Developers aim to start construction in 2026 and put the extension into service in 2028.
Opponents of the project are asking regulators to deny Mountain Valley’s request. They argue that not only is the natural gas project unnecessary and harmful to the environment, but that the Southgate proposal has changed significantly from its original plan and therefore requires a brand-new regulatory review.
The Terry family — Grace Terry, John Coles Terry III, Frank Terry Jr. and Elizabeth Terry Reynolds — of Roanoke County said that they oppose Southgate in part because of environmental violations documented during construction of the main Mountain Valley Pipeline, which impacted their Bent Mountain property.
“MVP Southgate would be built by the same actors, so the same destructive environmental outcomes should be expected,” the family wrote in a letter to federal regulators.
Opponents push for new look at project
Critics have submitted thousands of public comments, either individually or in batches via petitions, asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny Mountain Valley’s request to amend the certificate that it needs. FERC regulates the construction of interstate natural gas pipelines.
Southgate opponents argue that Mountain Valley should be required to file for an entirely new certificate because its amended plan has a different route and would carry more gas than what has already been approved. They also say the public should have more time to comment.
The matter has also gone to federal court, with eight environmental groups contending that FERC has fallen short of its legal responsibilities by not requiring a new review based on the proposed changes.
Mountain Valley had originally proposed a 75-mile extension into Rockingham and Alamance counties in North Carolina and a new compressor station in Pittsylvania County. Its newer plan calls for a route less than half that length that doesn’t enter Alamance County, and no new compressor station.
But it also originally proposed a narrower pipe carrying less gas. Its plan has changed from 16- and 24-inch pipes carrying 300,000 dekatherms of gas daily to a 30-inch pipeline carrying 550,000 dekatherms of gas daily.
For context, Roanoke Gas says its average residential customer uses 5.6 dekatherms per month, while the American Gas Association says an average commercial customer uses 50 dekatherms per month.
The environmental nonprofit Appalachian Voices told FERC on March 11 that the newer plan “means increased downstream greenhouse gas emissions and more pollution that is not accounted for in the environmental impact statement underlying the current certificate.”
Construction, safety concerns raised
Opponents also say the project will be unsafe and harmful. Nineteen Democratic members of the Virginia General Assembly wrote in a letter to FERC that Mountain Valley “has a history of construction violations and safety issues” with its original pipeline.
The lawmakers cited a $2.15 million civil penalty, which the pipeline developer agreed in 2019 to pay in order to resolve a lawsuit, and a 2023 safety order from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration.
“That specific history is precisely why the amendment request from the same developer for this extension through Pittsylvania County should receive significant scrutiny,” read the letter, whose signatories included Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville.
Several environmental groups submitted letters accompanied by what they said were names and comments gathered from people opposed to the proposal.
The Sierra Club submitted more than 3,480 comments, including more than 1,300 individual ones. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network submitted more than 6,000 names. Appalachian Voices submitted more than 2,500 names, including more than 150 individual comments.
Developer says no new review needed
In a response to critics filed last week with FERC, Mountain Valley said that its opponents “do not seriously dispute the facts” of its application to amend its Southgate certificate and that the Southgate approval process should not be used as a platform for “attacks” on the main pipeline.
“Contrary to opponents’ various claims regarding Mountain Valley as a pipeline operator, the Mainline System has been safely and reliably serving customers since it commenced operations in June 2024,” the company said.
The amended proposal is not markedly different from the company’s original plan, and the shorter route will “reduce impacts to landowners and sensitive environmental resources,” Mountain Valley said.
Mountain Valley pointed to the natural gas subscriptions from Duke Energy and Enbridge Gas as evidence of the need for the project.
Duke Energy needs the gas to meet a forecasted increase in electricity demand while also retiring 8,400 megawatts of coal power plants in North Carolina by 2035, according to Mountain Valley’s application.
Enbridge Gas has added about 100,000 utility customers over the past decade, bringing its total to 600,000, and needs additional gas supply to continue meeting demand, according to Mountain Valley.
Business groups, lawmakers support pipeline plan
Mountain Valley also pointed to supportive comments filed with FERC.
“Expanding natural gas access is critical to our region’s ability to attract and retain industries, particularly at the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill, one of the largest industrial parks in the Southeast,” wrote Anne Moore-Sparks, president and CEO of the Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce, referring to the 3,528-acre industrial park in Danville and Pittsylvania County.
“Reliable and affordable energy is essential to making this site — and our broader business community — competitive for major employers and long-term economic development.”
Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, said Southgate would support Pittsylvania County, of which he represents a part, and North Carolina through hundreds of construction jobs and ongoing tax revenue after completion.
“In addition to strengthening southern Virginia’s energy infrastructure, the MVP Southgate will provide significant economic benefits to residents, as well as state and local governments,” Phillips wrote to FERC.
Mountain Valley dismissed many of the comments against the proposal as “variations on the same anti-gas form letter solicited by opponents.”
Southgate is latest flashpoint in decade-long conflict
The opposition to Southgate echoes the fight against the main Mountain Valley Pipeline, which began operating in June and can transport up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas each day. For context, Roanoke Gas delivers about 10 billion cubic feet each year to its approximately 64,000 customers.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline was originally announced in 2014, with a planned operation date of 2018 and a price tag of less than half of its current $8.1 billion estimate.
Lawsuits and permitting disputes, along with construction site protests, delayed its completion for years until a provision in a national debt-ceiling bill in 2023 removed many of the legal obstacles.
Southgate was first announced in 2018 and has faced similar opposition and setbacks, including the 2021 denial of an air permit that would have been necessary to build an additional compressor station in Pittsylvania County under the original plan.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline development company is a joint venture among five companies. Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. is the largest single stakeholder with about 49% ownership. RGC Resources, the parent company of Roanoke Gas, owns less than 1%.
Appearing at West Virginia’s state capitol last week, EQT CEO Toby Rice said more gas pipelines must be built to meet the energy demands of both the growing data center market and gas-fired power plants, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Pipeline competitor speaks up
Also weighing in on Mountain Valley’s amended Southgate proposal with FERC is The Williams Companies Inc., which plans to expand its Transco pipeline system in a project called Southeast Supply Enhancement.
That project calls for adding 26 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline adjacent to the existing Transco pipeline corridor in Pittsylvania County, as well as installing additional pipeline in North Carolina adjacent to the existing system.
Southgate and the SSE project would run in the same general area. Transco told FERC that Southgate “duplicates the same path as Transco with the same supply sources” and that Transco’s system could accommodate Southgate’s proposed capacity instead.
Mountain Valley rebutted that argument, saying last week that the commitments from Duke Energy and Enbridge Gas demonstrate the demand for Southgate. Several supporters told FERC that while Transco has operated reliably in delivering gas to North Carolina, adding Southgate would help diversify the state’s sources.
“Having new transportation paths into North Carolina from new transportation service providers that can tap into affordable gas supply makes the Amended Project unique compared to any alternative,” wrote D. Russell Harris, vice president and general manager of Enbridge Gas in North Carolina.