Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Iroquois Gas Transmission | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY
October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

Good news! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have approved Dominion’s $165 million New Market Project, a project that expands Dominion’s transmission pipeline from western New York across the state to the Capital Region of the state, near Albany. As with any fossil fuel-related project, radical environmentalists objected (see NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project). The favorite tactic of anti-drillers is to “demand” that FERC exceed its authority by not only evaluating whether this specific project will have negative impacts on the envirnoment or health of people living near it–but also consider that the pipeline means more shale drilling and possibly (gasp) exports. FERC, under law, cannot consider those things. And when they follow the law and do their job, it sends anti fossil fuelers into a tizzy fit. As they are now with the announcement that FERC has approved the New Market Project (albeit seven months late)…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Dominion Spins Off Marcellus Gathering System into New Company
October 5, 2015October 5, 2015

Dominion is a huge utility/pipeline company operating in 13 states and organized into multiple corporations–but all under the broad umbrella known as Dominion. One of the pieces of the company is called Dominion Transmission, Inc. (DTI)–the interstate and gathering pipeline segment of the company, headquartered in Richmond, VA. Dominion has just announced they will strip out the gathering pipeline bits of the business from DTI and put them into a new company (on paper) called Dominion Gathering & Processing, Inc. It also appears that DTI itself will be renamed to Dominion Resources, Inc. The value of the transaction (what Dominion will essentially pay itself) is $434 million for the gathering assets. Why all of the musical chairs and setting up new corporations on paper? This time it doesn’t appear to be about tax advantages, as it so often is. Dominion is making the change because gathering systems are not regulated under FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) rules the way interstate pipelines are. By unbundling the gathering pipelines/compressor plants/etc. from the company that operates the interstate pipeline, Dominion can better compete with others in the midstream space. That is, right now because the gathering assets are part of the same company as the interstate pipeline, those assets are subject to FERC regulatory hoops and nonsense–so Dominion is removing those assets from that nonsense–sort of untying their hands to be on a level playing field with others…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Fed Judge Tosses VA Landowner Lawsuit to Stop Pipeline Surveys
October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

One reason why it takes so long to build a pipeline is the litigation necessary to make it happen. In September 2014, Dominion committed full force to building a 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline that will run from West Virginia, through Virginia and into North Carolina (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). The project, called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, will transport Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to the southeast. In November 2014, Dominion asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin an environmental review of the project (see Dominion Asks FERC to Start Environmental Review of SE Pipeline). In order to do a proper review and to finalize plans for the route, Dominion surveyors need to get on property of landowners in Virginia, some of whom blocked access–so Dominion had to sue them to gain access (see Dominion Sues VA Landowners to Allow Survey for Pipeline). Virginia landowners in Nelson and Augusta counties counter-sued to block Dominion and on Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed the landowners’ lawsuits, clearing the way for Dominion to enter their properties and complete survey work…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Iroquois Gas Transmission | Pipelines

Dominion Closes on Deal to Buy 26% of Iroquois Pipeline
October 1, 2015October 1, 2015

Click for larger version of map

In August MDN told you that Dominion had cut a deal to purchase 26% of Iroquois Gas Transmission System, which is a 416-mile, FERC-regulated natural gas pipeline running from the Canada-U.S. border near Waddington, NY, through New York and Connecticut to South Commack, NY on Long Island, and to Hunts Point, NY in the Bronx (see Dominion Buys 26% of Iroquois Gas Transmission Pipeline). The $286.5 million deal gives Dominion a bigger seat at the Marcellus/Utica table. Dominion announced that as of Tuesday, the deal closed…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Dominion Buying Up to $50M in Midstream Subsidiary
September 25, 2015September 25, 2015

Dominion, one of the biggest utility companies in the Marcellus/Utica region, is going on a buying spree. The object of their desire? Their very own midstream (pipeline) company subsidiary, Dominion Midstream Partners. Dominion’s board has authorized the company to spend up to $50 million to buy units (think shares of stock) in their midstream subsidiary. Usually companies buy their own stock/units for two reasons: (1) because they believe it to be undervalued/a bargain (i.e. opportunism), or (2) to prop up the share price (i.e. defending their investment). Which one is this?…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Dominion Files FERC Application for $5B Atlantic Coast Pipeline
September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) faces some stiff opposition from the anti-drilling, landed gentry class, along with opposition from the usual anti-fossil fuel nutters and even opposition from Obama-controlled agencies including the BLM, FWS and USFS (see our ACP stories here). Even so, on Friday Dominion filed their official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get the pipeline approved. ACP, as a reminder, is a $5 billion, 564-mile natural gas pipeline starting in West Virginia, traveling through Virginia and on into North Carolina. The governors of all three states, two Democrats and one Republican, all strongly support the project. So too do a majority of residents in all three states (see Millions of People Support Atlantic Coast Pipeline via New Group). Just to give you an idea of how phenomenally over-complicated the process is, Dominion’s application was 30,000 pages long, a stack of paper 10 feet high…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Ohio | Statewide OH

Dominion Does It Again – $110K in Grants to OH Community Groups
September 16, 2015September 16, 2015

Just a few weeks ago Dominion announced they will hand out $1 million in grants for housing, food and health care in the regions in which they operate (see Dominion Does it Right: $1M in Grants for Housing, Food, Health Care). Barley two weeks later and they’ve done it again. On Monday Dominion East Ohio (division of Dominion) announced they’re offering another $110,000 in grants–this time to non-profits that have “made a difference” in the Ohio communities they serve. Details…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Dominion Does it Right: $1M in Grants for Housing, Food, Health Care
September 2, 2015September 2, 2015

Hats off to Dominion, a major natural gas utility and midstream (i.e. pipeline) company operating in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia–essentially operating in the Marcellus/Utica region. We’ve noted on a number of occasions the generosity of Dominion with their philanthropy (see Dominion to Issue $1.5M in Education Grants in Energy, Environment, and Dominion Awards $1M in Grants to Colleges in Marcellus/Utica, and Two WV Colleges Get $100K Grant from Dominion Foundation as just a few examples). Dominion has just done it again. The Dominion Foundation announces they will give away $1 million in grants in $50,000 chunks to local nonprofits in the regions they serve to help with shelter, access to health care and food security (feeding hungry mouths). Nonprofits are invited to apply for a grant…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Govt Agencies Ask FERC to Delay Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project
August 27, 2015August 27, 2015

It’s bad enough when anti-fossil fuel zealots gang up, like a pack of hyenas, to try and defeat a much-needed pipeline like Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (see New Coalition of Same Old Antis Opposes Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline). Now the federal government is joining in too. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), along with the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are pushing back against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. All three agencies regularly exceed their Constitutional authority and need to be reigned in–but that won’t happen under Dictator in Chief BHO. The BLM has just fired off a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting yet another delay in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia

FERC Approves Dominion WV/OH Compressor Project, Rips Anti Group
August 26, 2015August 26, 2015

In June 2014 Dominion filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate new compression facilities at existing compressor stations in Marshall County, WV and Monroe County, OH, and certain other facilities, collectively called the Clarington Project (see Dominion Asks FERC for New Compressors in Upstate NY, WV). The Clarington project, costing a modest $76.5 million, will allow Dominion to provide 250,000 dekatherms (Dth) per day of firm transportation service for CNX Gas, otherwise known as CONSOL Energy. One week ago today, FERC approved Dominion’s request. Below we outline the particulars of what Dominion requested and was granted. However, the project was not without opposition. The Allegheny Defense Project filed a motion to intervene. Allegheny tried to force FERC into denying Dominion’s application–but it didn’t work. What’s most interesting to MDN about the FERC approval of the Clarington Project is their very extensive, line by line response to Allegheny. In FERC’s response, they rip Allegheny’s arguments apart, bit by bit, argument by argument–and expose the group for the outrageous extremists they are, devoid of facts, with a total reliance on empty allegations and innuendo. We LOVE FERC’s response that puts Allegheny in its place…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Marcellus/Utica Gas-to-Liquids Not Dead! Dominion Sniffing Around
August 20, 2015August 20, 2015

Once upon a time there was an initial flurry of interest in converting shale gas, specifically Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, into other products like diesel fuel using technologies first pioneered in the 1920s. The process is called gas-to-liquids, or GTL, and there were three our four projects mentioned in the northeast over the past couple of years. The project closest to reality seemed to be the Ashtabula (OH) Energy GTL plant that got a final necessary permit from the Ohio EPA in July (see Ohio EPA Issues Final Permit for Ashtabula GTL Plant). However, parent company Velocys became embroiled in controversy, suspending its CEO for possible “serious misconduct” (see Velocys GTL Company Suspends CEO for Possible Serious Misconduct). With the collapse of the price of oil, all GTL projects seemed to fade away primarily because the substance that the natural gas would be converted to–things like diesel fuel and gasoline–are cheap direct from the refiner. That is, it’s just not economic to use natgas as the feedstock for something made cheaper via different method (refining oil). However, we have exciting news of a potential new GTL project, backed by Dominion, in the Marcellus/Utica area. Dominion’s project would convert natural gas into isobutanol and farnesene…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia | West Virginia

Anti-Pipeline “Hands Across Our Land” Protest in VA & WV a Bust
August 19, 2015August 19, 2015

Hands Across Our Land, a minuscule gathering in three locations in Virginia and one location in West Virginia organized by the far left Sierra Club and the extremists of 350.org, held “protests” so small yesterday that if it weren’t for local media looking for any story to report during the summer doldrums, nobody would have noticed there even was a protest. Casual observers would have thought, “Oh, there’s a small group, perhaps a (nutty looking) family out for a stroll.” The “protesters” were there to object to two necessary, innocuous, safe natural gas pipelines from being buried in the ground–Dominion’s 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline which is due to run from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina; and EQT/NextEra US Gas Assets’ 330-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline from West Virginia into southern Virginia. As is typically the case, most of the protesters were in their 50s and 60s, former hippies who have found a new cause (anti-fossil fuels) to rejuvinate their otherwise meaningless lives…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Iroquois Gas Transmission | M&A | Pipelines

Dominion Buys 26% of Iroquois Gas Transmission Pipeline
August 18, 2015August 18, 2015

Dominion has just purchased themselves a bigger seat at the Marcellus/Utica midstream (pipeline) table with the purchase of 26% of the Iroquois Gas Transmission System. The Iroquois, you may recall, is one of two pipelines that will connect to the Constitution Pipeline to be built by Williams starting later this year. The Constitution will flow 650 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day of Marcellus Shale gas mostly from Cabot Oil & Gas wells in Susquehanna County, PA. The 125-mile Constitution will run from PA into New York and connect with the Iroquois (and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline) in Schoharie County, NY. The Iroquois is a 416-mile interstate natural gas pipeline running from the U.S.-Canadian border at Waddington, NY, through NY and western Connecticut to its terminus in Commack, NY, and from Huntington to the Bronx, NY. The Iroquois supplies clean-burning natural gas to local distribution companies (LDCs) an electric power generators in New England and the greater New York City area. Increasingly the Iroquois is flowing Marcellus Shale gas. It is that pipeline that Dominion has just purchased a major piece of…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Carole King: VA Pipeline Makes Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman
August 18, 2015August 18, 2015

Another famous white, rich, aging, hippie woman has lined up against pipelines. At least this famous white, rich, aging hippie, Carole King, has talent–unlike Yoko Ono who is talentless, someone who still rides the coattails of her famous husband, God rest his soul. Carole King doesn’t need fame or to increase her personal fortune, unlike Ono. So why is she speaking out against the Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline and where it will run in Virginia? Because the pipeline will come close to land owned by Yogaville, an “ecumenical spiritual retreat” in Buckingham County, VA that King has $upported for decades. Most folks think of yoga as funky pretzel-like stretches people do at the gym or at a special class at your local community college. What they may not know is that yoga is as much a spiritual practice (i.e. religion) as it is an exercise routine. Apparently King is one of its practitioners. Makes her Feel Like A Natural Woman. Good for her. Whatever gets you through the day, right? King wrote directly to Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II to request he ax the pipeline plan and instead stick up solar panels and windmills. Here’s why King is wrong about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline affecting Yogaville…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Virginia

One US Forest Service Employee Sends Questions to FERC re Pipeline
August 10, 2015August 10, 2015

We spotted a story last week published by the Associated Press with a first sentence that begins this way: “The U.S. Forest Service has raised hundreds of concerns about a proposed natural gas pipeline that would carve a 30-mile swath through national forests in Virginia and West Virginia.” The pipeline is Dominion’s $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline from West Virginia into Virginia and onward to North Carolina. We read the story and then dug a bit further. It seems it’s not the monolithic U.S. Forest Service that is questioning the pipeline, but a single U.S. Forest Service worker–H. Thomas Speaks Jr., forest supervisor for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Mr. Speaks was fed anti-pipeline propaganda from the head of an anti-pipeline organization who is a semi-retired researcher from the University of Virginia–Rick Webb. Webb continues to use his UVA official email account to promote his anti-pipeline viewpoints, implying UVA also opposes the project (see Researcher Uses Official UVA Email to Oppose Dominion Pipeline). We Googled and found a letter from Webb to Speaks which (we assume) include some (many?) of the same talking points Speaks used when submitting his “335 questions, comments and corrections” to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with regard to running a pipeline through 30 miles of the George Washington and Monongahela national forests…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Millions of People Support Atlantic Coast Pipeline via New Group
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

Support for Dominion’s $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline got a huge boost recently when a new group of over 100 businesses, labor organizations, and other local, state and national groups announced the formation of EnergySure – Standing Up for Reliable Energy. The founding members of EnergySure represent millions of employees and individuals across Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. You may recall MDN’s previous stories about rich, white Republicans (RINOs) opposing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline because it may leave a dark spot on some of their horse farms (see VA Gentry Class Raising $1M to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline). We also told you about a small group of partisan, liberal, left-wing Democrats pretending to be a huge group of “concerned residents” from “Virginia and West Virginia” forming a group called Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance to oppose the project (see New Coalition of Same Old Antis Opposes Atlantic Coast Pipeline). All of those anti-pipeline efforts look like amateur hour compared to EnergySure with its backing of MILLIONS of people who support the Atlantic Coast Pipeline…
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