Equitrans confirms early-2021 Mountain Valley in-service
Equitrans Midstream Corp. is still targeting early 2021 for full in-service of its 303-mile, 2-bcfd Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline (MVP). The pipeline will move gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales to consumers in the mid-Atlantic and southeast regions of the US.
The MVP joint venture expects a new biological opinion to be issued shortly, with certain forward construction resuming upon approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Following the biological opinion, MVP expects to receive Nationwide Permit 12 authorization from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which combined with FERC approval, will allow water body crossing to resume.
Equitrans estimated in reporting its second-quarter 2020 earnings that in order to adapt the construction plan for potential complex judicial decisions and regulatory changes total project costs may increase by about 5%. The project has a current budget of $5.4 billion, 50% of which Equitrans expects to fund. NextEra Energy Inc., Consolidated Edison Inc., AltaGas Ltd., and RGC Resources Inc. are Equitrans’ partners in the MVP JV.
On June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision regarding the US Forest Service's authority to grant a right-of-way to cross the Appalachian Trail. The positive ruling cleared the path for continuing MVP construction.
FERC on June 18, 2020, issued the certificate of public convenience and necessity for the MVP Southgate project. Construction is expected to begin in 2021, upon receiving all necessary permits and authorizations, and MVP Southgate is targeted to enter service in 2021. The 75-mile pipeline is expected to receive gas from MVP in Virginia and transport the gas to new delivery points in Rockingham and Alamance Counties, NC.
With a total project cost estimate of $450-500 million, MVP Southgate is backed by a 300-MMcfd firm capacity commitment from Dominion Energy North Carolina and, as designed, the pipeline has expansion capabilities that could raise capacity to 900 MMcfd. Equitrans has a 47.2% ownership interest in MVP Southgate and will operate the pipeline.
During second-quarter 2020, a portion of the Hammerhead gas pipeline became operational for interruptible service. Hammerhead is a 64-mile gathering header pipeline designed to primarily deliver Marcellus gas from southwestern Pennsylvania to MVP. Hammerhead has 1.6 bcfd of capacity, of which 1.2 bcfd is contracted under a 20-year firm capacity commitment that starts upon MVP in-service.