N.C. Pipeline Deathmatch: Transco SESE vs. MVP Southgate
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a deathmatch with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both claim they have customers ready to take their gas. In a recent FERC filing, Williams said that its project could easily handle Southgate MVP’s capacity by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station (see Williams’ Transco Tries to Muscle Out MVP Southgate in FERC Filing). EQT was not pleased with the attempt to undercut Southgate. The question is whether this is a deathmatch with one winner taking all, or could both projects receive a FERC green light? Read More “N.C. Pipeline Deathmatch: Transco SESE vs. MVP Southgate”

Last November, Williams officially filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build an expansion of its mighty Transco pipeline system in the southeastern U.S., a project called the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (see
In 2018, Equitrans Midstream, the builder of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), proposed to extend MVP by an extra 75 miles from the current terminus in Pittsylvania County, VA, to Alamance County, NC, to provide natural gas for heating and electric generation. The 75-mile extension is called MVP Southgate. In December 2023, MVP changed the Southgate plan by cutting the distance by more than half and bumping up the size (diameter) of the pipeline (see
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a scuffle with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both claim they have customers ready to take their gas. In a recent FERC filing, Williams said that its project could easily handle Southgate MVP’s capacity by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station. EQT is not pleased with the attempt to undercut Southgate. The question is: Will FERC approve both, or just one?
Duke Energy is a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, NC, and is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Duke’s electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, and it collectively owns 50,000 megawatts of energy-generating capacity. Duke’s natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people. We’ve covered many stories over the years of Duke seeking to build new gas-fired power generation throughout its territory. Here’s another new one: Duke wants to build two new gas-fired power plants (combined capacity of 850 megawatts) near its home base, just outside of Charlotte in Rowan County, NC. 

We’re just now learning the good news about decisions by two different North Carolina agencies to approve four new gas-fired power plants that utility giant Duke Energy wants to build at two different N.C. sites. In early December, the N.C. Utilities Commission issued orders deeming the gas plants necessary at both sites. Then, on Dec. 20, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality granted air quality permits for the four plants. All four will be fed by Marcellus/Utica molecules and are important new customers for our gas. 
Dominion Energy Virginia yesterday issued its “2024 Integrated Resource Plan” to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) and the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC). The document outlines a plan to meet rising power demand through significant investments in new power generation from “every source,” expansion and modernization of the power grid, energy storage, and energy efficiency programs. The problem is (from our perspective), the plan deemphasizes natural gas in favor of unreliable renewables, to the peril of Dominion’s customers.
In September 2023, Dominion Energy and Enbridge co-announced that Dominion had agreed to sell the company’s remaining natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) that Dominion owns to Enbridge for $14.0 billion, which includes $9.4 billion in cash plus the assumption of debt (see
In February, MDN told you about Dominion Energy’s filing to build a new 45-mile pipeline to connect Equitrans’ (now EQT’s) MVP Southgate pipeline project with Duke Energy’s planned new natural gas power plants on Hyco Lake’s southern shore (see
Last week, MDN brought you an article from RBN Energy detailing how more electricity and natural gas will soon be needed in Virginia and the Carolinas for a plethora of new projects in the works (see
Dominion Energy wants to build a liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facility in Person County, North Carolina, to enhance natural gas service reliability for residential and business customers in the growing region (see 