RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Coast
Pipeline LLC, which has proposed a 550-mile natural gas pipeline to
bring much-needed energy to Virginia and North
Carolina, today announced an agreement totaling more than
$400 million with Dura-Bond
Industries to produce steel pipe for the project.
Pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC), the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) would run from
Harrison County, W.Va., southeast
through Virginia with a lateral
extension to Chesapeake, Va., and
then south through eastern North
Carolina to Robeson County.
If approved, construction is scheduled to start in late 2016.
Dura-Bond, which ACP LLC selected after an extensive bidding
process, is scheduled to produce the pipe at its Steelton, Pa., mill beginning late 2015
through March 2017. Dura-Bond plans
to hire about 150 employees at the mill to run a second shift of
union workforce to meet the schedule.
"We are excited to work with Dura-Bond, one of the nation's
premier suppliers of gas transmission pipeline," said Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy.
"Dura-Bond has an outstanding reputation in the industry and has
been a long-term supplier of pipe and pipe coating for Dominion's
gas transmission business, dating back to the 1970s.
"This contract alone will provide significant economic growth to
the region, beyond cleaner air, lower customer bills and jobs,"
Leopold added.
The ACP joint venture reached the agreement with Dura-Bond prior
to FERC approval because of the long lead time needed to buy raw
materials and to get a guaranteed production schedule for this
large amount of new pipe. ACP expects to file its FERC application
late this summer, receive its FERC certificate in the summer of
2016 and begin construction shortly thereafter. The pipeline is
expected to be in service by late 2018.
Producing about 540 miles of pipe ranging from 30 to 42 inches
outside diameter is the largest single order in Dura-Bond's
history, said Dura-Bond Vice President Jason Norris.
"We are extremely pleased with such a large pipe order, and are
proud that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline partners have the faith and
trust in us," said Norris. "Since 2006, we've produced nearly 200
miles of pipe for Dominion and are excited to secure this
tremendous order. We have a lot of work ahead of us and we will be
up for the task.
"This is a great example of how the growth in the Marcellus
Shale impacts the economy," added Norris."This increase in activity
at Dura-Bond also means more business for our local suppliers who
we depend on and support whenever we can, so the trickle-down
effect will be significant."
In a separate transaction, Dominion signed an agreement with
Dura-Bond to produce 39 miles of additional 36-inch and 30-inch
outside diameter steel pipe for the company's Supply Header Project
in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, which has the ACP as its primary
customer. The Supply Header project schedule is the same as for the
ACP.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC is composed of four major U.S.
energy companies – Dominion, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Piedmont
Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) and AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS). The joint
venture partners plan to build and own the $4.5 billion-to-$5 billion pipeline, which 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.
About Dominion
Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and
transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600
megawatts of generation, 12,400 miles of natural gas transmission,
gathering and storage pipeline and 6,455 miles of electric
transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's
largest natural gas storage systems with 949 billion cubic feet of
storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in
12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's
website at www.dom.com.
About Dura-Bond Industries
Dura-Bond Industries, founded in 1960, supplies gas
transmission, midstream, gathering and gas distribution pipeline
companies with locally manufactured steel pipe, protective pipe
coating and other pipeline products. Dura-Bond manufactures and
coats large diameter steel pipe at modern facilities in
Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale
region. The company fabricates complex steel structures, piling,
wale systems, tie back systems, soundwalls, retaining walls,
railing systems and other marine applications. Dura-Bond's
convenient locations reduce transportation expenses and provide
just-in-time deliveries of pre-staged pipe and pipeline products.
For more information about Dura-Bond, visit the company's website
at www.dura-bond.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.
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/.
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.
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.
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SOURCE Dominion