Change in Direction for One Leg of Mountaineer Gas Pipe in WV

In 2017, Mountaineer Gas launched the Eastern Panhandle Expansion pipeline project–a project to deliver natural gas via local distribution channels to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Mountaineer’s pipeline expansion will be fed by a 3.5-mile Columbia Gas pipeline under the Potomac River. There are three phases to the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project: Phase One runs a 22.5-mile, 10-inch-diameter steel pipeline from Morgan County to Martinsburg; Phase Two includes a loop to Charles Town; and Phase Three will build a four mile segment of pipeline into Martinsburg. Phase One began construction in March (see Mountaineer Gas Begins Work on Morgan County, WV Pipeline). By all accounts, Phase One is close to being done. Phase Two is up next. There is some confusion (for us) over what was and was not filed by Mountaineer with respect to this project. It appears there was no official Phase Two request previously filed, that Mountaineer’s approach all along has been to run pipelines where the opportunities crop up, filing for permission as circumstances warrant. Since the project was first announced, there’s been a new opportunity. Although Phase Two was originally forecast to run to Charles Town (Jefferson County), that’s now changed–to run to Ranson (also Jefferson County) instead, to feed gas to a new $150 million manufacturing plant being built…