A recently formed group aims to advocate for the interests of the natural gas industry in Virginia.
The Natural Gas Coalition of Virginia will not be a formal political lobbying group. Rather, it plans outreach efforts to get its message before policymakers and the public.
The coalition also will add its voice to regulatory review processes for projects such as new gas-fired power plants, Bruce McKay, the coalition’s chair, said in an interview. McKay also is the senior director of external affairs for Berkshire Hathaway Energy – Gas Transmission and Storage.
“We’re just going to see if we can’t raise awareness in a way that hasn’t been done before, to the benefit of consumers and the state’s economy along the way, as decisions get made on gas policy and energy policy,” McKay said.
The group’s formation comes as various Virginia stakeholders debate the role of natural gas in meeting the state’s forecast for rapidly rising electricity demand while facing legislatively mandated clean energy requirements.
It also comes as the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a major interstate gas pipeline project, marks a little over a year of being in service following a decade of controversy, and at least three pipeline expansions impacting Virginia have been proposed.
Efforts to expand natural gas in Virginia in recent years have been met with resistance, including from environmental groups that oppose fossil fuels and would prefer to see greater development of renewable sources such as solar and wind to meet Virginia’s increasing electricity needs.
Peter Anderson, director of state energy policy for the nonprofit Appalachian Voices, said in an email to Cardinal News that “it is puzzling that the industry is convening a new coalition to push for more natural gas use in Virginia when gas is already used more than any other energy source.”
“The continued expansion of methane gas infrastructure will lock us into expensive and dirty investments that poison our air and harm our communities, without any reliability benefit,” Anderson said. “To meet rising energy demand, clean, renewable energy resources can be built faster, without pollution, and when paired with storage systems provide increased reliability.”
The Natural Gas Coalition of Virginia plans to emphasize the reliability and affordability of natural gas as well as its “low carbon intensity,” according to a news release. Carbon intensity is a measure of how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere during an activity such as producing electricity.
The group said that it supports the development of renewable sources of energy but that “natural gas will still be needed when those intermittent sources are offline.”
Among the coalition members will be natural gas utilities such as Roanoke Gas parent company RGC Resources Inc., Martinsville-based Southwestern Virginia Gas and Radford-based Atmos Energy; pipeline developers the Williams Companies and the Mountain Valley Pipeline joint venture; producers such as Richlands-based CNX; and the state’s two largest electric utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
“Appalachian Power owns and operates multiple natural gas generation facilities,” said Appalachian Power spokesperson Debra Pannell. “Our membership in this organization allows us to participate in discussions about meeting the energy needs of industry and our customers now and in the future.”
The coalition anticipates adding more members, such as contractors and gas customers, as time goes on.
Virginia has a trade association that advocates for the natural gas industry: the Virginia Oil and Gas Association, which was formed in 1977 and which engages in lobbying activities with the Virginia General Assembly. VOGA will be a part of the new group.
“The newly formed Natural Gas Coalition of Virginia will focus on public relations, advocacy, and education — ensuring policymakers and the public understand the benefits of natural gas. The Virginia Oil & Gas Association (VOGA) remains focused on improving Virginia’s legislative and regulatory environment through direct lobbying,” VOGA President Lawton Mullins said in an email. “We view these roles as complementary and look forward to working together.”
McKay said the new coalition’s activities would likely involve things like “briefings for policymakers, where you would have a group of entities in the room that play different roles in the industry, to do this mission of, where does gas come from, how does it get there, and how is it used.”
“That’s different than advocating for a specific bill or amendment under consideration,” he said. “It’s just trying to get people to understand how gas fits into the overall generation profile and overall energy usage profile.”
While some of the members are competitors, they’re also all “in an industry that needs more understanding,” McKay said.
In its public outreach, the coalition hopes to emphasize the role of gas in “those basic things you may take for granted in daily life,” said Travis Blankenship, vice president of state government relations for Richmond-based McGuireWoods Consulting, which the coalition hired to help set up the organization.
“Part of the effort of the coalition is about connecting the dots for folks that you go to a restaurant, you get a nice burger or what have you, likely chances are that’s powered by natural gas,” Blankenship said.
As of 2023, one in three homes in Virginia used natural gas for heating, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Residences accounted for 12% of gas consumption in the commonwealth.
Nearly 60% of Virginia’s natural gas consumption went to producing electricity as of 2023. Natural gas is responsible for more than half of the electricity generated in Virginia, according to the EIA.
Forecasts predict a steep increase in electricity demand in Virginia over the next 15 years, driven largely by data centers, the buildings full of computer servers that power numerous online services. How best to meet that anticipated demand has been a matter of recent debate among lawmakers, electric utilities, environmentalists, advocates for various energy sources and others.
The Virginia Clean Economy Act, passed in 2020, said Dominion and Appalachian must achieve carbon-free energy portfolios by 2045 and 2050, respectively.
The act prohibited building new natural gas power generation unless there is “a threat to the reliability or security of electric service to the utility’s customers.”
Dominion has proposed a new gas plant in Chesterfield County dubbed the “Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center.” As a “peaker” plant, it could be turned on and off as needed to generate up to 1,000 megawatts of power, or enough for 250,000 homes.
The Richmond-based utility and supporters of the proposal have said it’s necessary to ensure stability as electricity demand rises. Opponents have said that the plant is unnecessary and would harm the environment.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the commonwealth, will hold a public hearing on Sept. 23.
“If you look at the Clean Economy Act, there’s a provision in there that allows traditional gas-fired generation to maintain reliability of the system,” McKay said. “What that means precisely and how that’s being interpreted is under discussion as Dominion takes the Chesterfield project to the SCC. … I think that having many voices weigh in on that will be beneficial.”
Last year, the 303-mile, 42-inch-diameter Mountain Valley Pipeline came online and began delivering up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas each day from West Virginia through six Virginia counties into Pittsylvania County.
That project was delayed for years due to legal and permitting battles as landowners, environmentalists and others disputed its necessity and expressed concerns about its environmental impact, its use of eminent domain to take private land and the safety of its pipes carrying highly pressurized methane gas.
In July, EQT Corp., which owns the largest single stake in the Mountain Valley Pipeline joint venture, said it wants to increase the pipeline’s capacity by 25%. Developers also seek to extend the line into North Carolina in a project called MVP Southgate, which faces similar opposition as the main line has.
The Williams Companies has proposed two expansions in Virginia of its Transco pipeline system that carries gas nearly 10,000 miles from Texas to New York.
One of those, the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, would carry up to 1.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily from Pittsylvania County to North Carolina.
The other, called Power Express, would carry up to 950 million cubic feet daily from Pittsylvania to serve Northern Virginia. Both require regulatory approval.
McKay said that gas plants, pipeline expansions and other projects involve numerous permits and technical issues, and gas supporters should have an organized voice backing them.
“There should be more favorable policy decisions and permitting decisions that should reflect the widespread popularity and acceptance of gas,” he said.
Paul Nester, president and CEO of Roanoke Gas, which is a subsidiary of RGC Resources Inc. said his company anticipates adding upward of 700 new customers this year. It currently has about 64,000.
“Every new house being built in Roanoke wants natural gas,” Nester said.