The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today gave Williams the green light to expand natural gas capacity to Virginia by 101mn cf/d (2.9mn m3/d) on its Transco pipeline.
The project, called the Commonwealth Energy Connector, involves the construction of 6.3 miles of new pipeline within Transco's existing right-of-way in southeast Virginia, near the border with North Carolina. The project also includes adding horsepower at compressor station 168, west of the new pipeline segment.
Williams plans to begin construction this winter and put the project into service by the end of 2025.
Environmental advocacy group Sierra Club opposed the project, arguing FERC failed to assess its potential greenhouse gas emissions, rendering its National Environmental Policy Act analysis moot. FERC disagreed, conceding that although the project's final Environmental Impact Statement demonstrated it would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of those emissions on the environment could not be measured because FERC lacks the methodology to do so.
The US south-Atlantic gas market has become more volatile in recent years as gas and power demand have soared, outpacing pipeline capacity expansions in the region. The combined gas consumption of Virginia and North and South Carolina in 2022 averaged 4.7 Bcf/d, up by 69pc from a decade earlier, US Energy Information Administration data show.
Regional gas and power consumption is widely expected to continue climbing through the end of the decade on a massive build-out of data centers, especially in Virginia.
