RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion
(NYSE: D), on behalf of its joint venture partners in the Atlantic
Coast Pipeline, today submitted a request to begin the pre-filing
process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),
asking the commission to begin its environmental review of the
proposed $4.5 billion to $5 billion,
550-mile natural gas pipeline.
Four major U.S. energy companies – Dominion, Duke Energy (NYSE:
DUK), Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) and AGL Resources (NYSE:
GAS) – plan to build and own the pipeline, which would run from
Harrison County, W.Va., southeast
through Virginia with an extension
to Chesapeake, Va., and then south
through eastern North Carolina to
Robeson County. The pipeline would
help meet the growing clean energy needs of Virginia and North
Carolina by providing direct access to the burgeoning
natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
"The broad and enthusiastic support we have received since
announcing the project last month is further evidence of how
important the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is to the future of the
region," said Diane Leopold,
president of the company's Dominion Energy business unit. "Along
with creating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new tax
revenues for states and localities, it can act as a catalyst for
future economic development, help stabilize energy prices for
consumers and businesses, and promote cleaner air."
Govs. Terry McAuliffe of
Virginia, Earl Ray Tomblin of West Virginia and Pat
McCrory of North Carolina
each talked about the economic growth and jobs that are expected to
occur along the pipeline when the project was announced
Sept. 2. More than 30 federal, state,
and local elected officials, and chamber of commerce or economic
development groups have provided letters of support or passed
resolutions in favor of the project. In addition, more than
5,500 letters of support have been received by elected officials in
Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.
A study by Chmura Economics & Analytics estimates that the
project can generate a total of $2.7
billion in economic impact from 2014 through 2019 in the
three-state region, supporting 17,240 cumulative jobs.
The project also promises significant environmental benefits.
Much of the natural gas to be transported by the pipeline will
replace coal in the generation of electricity — a transition that's
already well under way in both Virginia and North
Carolina as older, less efficient coal units are retired.
Natural gas burns cleaner than coal and emits about half the carbon
dioxide.
From 2008 to 2013, demand for gas-fired electric power
generation grew by 459 percent in North
Carolina and 123 percent in Virginia. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration's 2014 Annual Energy Outlook reported that overall,
demand for natural gas for all uses grew by 50 and 37 percent in
North Carolina and Virginia, respectively, between 2008 and
2012.
The extensive FERC review process that begins with pre-filing
solicits input from numerous local, state and federal entities, and
private citizens. Public safety, air quality, water resources,
geology, soils, wildlife and vegetation, threatened and endangered
species, land and visual resources, cultural and historic
resources, noise, cumulative impacts and reasonable alternatives
are fully examined. The project will need the approvals of 40
federal, state and local regulatory agencies before construction
can begin.
"This is the formal beginning of a comprehensive and detailed
review process by the FERC and other agencies that will examine
this project from every angle," Leopold said. "It is an open
process with many opportunities for participation by the
public."
In the pre-filing request to the FERC, Dominion noted it has
begun a wide-ranging outreach and education program for
stakeholders. So far, the program has included 13 informational
open houses along the route attended by more than 3,600 people.
Additional open houses will be scheduled for January 2015, followed by FERC-led scoping
meetings shortly thereafter.
Informational packets also will be mailed to about 5,500
property owners along the proposed pipeline route and within a
half-mile of potential compressor station locations.
Dominion is surveying to determine the best route, one that
meets operational and reliability needs while minimizing the impact
on the environment as well as historical and cultural
resources.
The company expects to file its FERC application next summer,
receive the FERC Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in
the summer of 2016 and begin construction shortly thereafter. The
pipeline is expected to be in service by late 2018.
The main pipeline would have a 42-inch diameter in West Virginia and Virginia, reducing to 36 inches in diameter in
North Carolina. Virginia and North
Carolina have limited access to supplies from the Marcellus
and Utica shales and have a need
for increased infrastructure to support growing demand for natural
gas-fired generation, and to add supply diversity for reliability
and price stability.
More information about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is available
on the Web at dom.com/acpipeline and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/acpipeline.
More information about the FERC pre-filing process is available
at http://www.ferc.gov/help/processes/flow/gas-4.asp and
http://www.ferc.gov/help/faqs/prefiling.asp .
About Dominion
Dominion is one of the nation's largest
producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of
approximately 23,600 megawatts of generation, 10,900 miles of
natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,400
miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the
nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 947 billion cubic
feet of storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy
customers in 10 states. For more information about Dominion, visit
the company's website at www.dom.com.
Media contact: Frank Mack,
(804) 771-3141; frank.mack@dom.com
Investor contact: Kristy
Babcock, (804) 819-2492;
kristy.r.babcock@dom.com
About Duke Energy
Duke Energy is the largest electric
power holding company in the United
States with approximately $115
billion in total assets. Its regulated utility operations
serve approximately 7.2 million electric customers located in six
states in the Southeast and Midwest. Its commercial power and
international energy business segments own and operate diverse
power generation assets in North
America and Latin America,
including a growing portfolio of renewable energy assets in
the United States. Headquartered
in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is
a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at:
www.duke-energy.com.
Media contact: Dave
Scanzoni, (800) 559-3853
Investor contact: Bill
Currens, (704) 382-1603
About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas is an
energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of
natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial,
industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by
municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are
invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate
natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate
natural gas transportation businesses. More information about
Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/.
Media contact: David
Trusty, (704) 731-4391, david.trusty@piedmontng.com
Investor contact: Nick
Giaimo, (704) 731-4952, nicholas.giaimo@piedmontng.com
About AGL Resources
AGL Resources is an Atlanta-based energy services holding company
with operations in natural gas distribution, retail operations,
wholesale services and midstream operations. AGL Resources serves
approximately 4.5 million utility customers through its regulated
distribution subsidiaries in seven states. The company also serves
approximately 630,000 retail energy customers and approximately 1.2
million customer service contracts through its SouthStar Energy
Services joint venture and Pivotal Home Solutions, which market
natural gas and related home services. Other non-utility businesses
include asset management for natural gas wholesale customers
through Sequent Energy Management and ownership and operation of
natural gas storage facilities. AGL Resources is a member of the
S&P 500 Index. For more information, visit
www.aglresources.com.
Media contact: Tami Gerke,
(404) 584-3873, tgerke@aglresources.com
Investor contact: Steve Cave,
(404) 584-3801, scave@aglresources.com
This news release includes certain "forward-looking
information." Examples include information as to our expectations,
beliefs, plans, goals, objectives and future financial or other
performance or assumptions concerning matters discussed in this
release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those in the forward-looking statements may accompany the
statements themselves. In addition, our business is influenced by
many factors that are difficult to predict, involve uncertainties
that may materially affect actual results and are often beyond our
ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of
future market conditions, access to and costs of capital, the
receipt of regulatory approvals for, and timing of, planned
projects and compliance with conditions associated with such
regulatory approvals, and the ability to complete planned
construction or expansion projects within the terms and timeframes
initially anticipated. We have identified and will in the future
identify a number of these factors in our SEC Reports on Forms 10-K
and 10-Q. We refer you to those discussions for further
information. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the
date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update
any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances
after the date on which it is made.
SOURCE Dominion