RICHMOND (WSLS 10) -Â Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, formally applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday for permission to build a 564-mile interstate natural gas transmission pipeline.
Officials said the future pipeline in question is designed to meet the need for cleaner electricity generation, satisfy the growing demand for natural gas to heat homes and businesses, and promote consumer savings and economic growth.
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is being asked to certify the public benefit and necessity of the project.
The FERC and a number of participating agencies will examine fully a broad number of issues, including 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.
Four major U.S. energy companies – Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources – formed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, (Atlantic) to build and own the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).
Officials said the pipeline would transport abundant natural gas supplies from Harrison County, W.Va., southeast through Virginia with an extension to Chesapeake, Va., and south through central North Carolina to Robeson County. Pending regulatory approval, construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2016 and the pipeline is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The ACP has strong support from Govs. Earl Ray Tomblin of West Virginia, Terry McAuliffe of Virginia and Pat McCrory of North Carolina, and other federal, state and local officials. A three-state coalition of more than 150 business and labor organizations, EnergySure (www.energysure.com), recently announced its support for the project and the economic development that it is projected to create.
Two well-respected research firms documented the significant economic benefits of the ACP:
- Consumers and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina could save an estimated $377 million annually in lower energy costs thanks to the ACP, according to a study by ICF International (www.dom.com/acp-icf). That study also found that more than 2,200 full-time, permanent jobs could be created in the two states because of the lower energy prices. The new jobs would come from businesses being able to reinvest their energy savings in growth and from energy-intensive manufacturing industries once an abundant supply of affordable natural gas is assured.
- One-time construction activity of the ACP could inject an annual average of $456.3 million into the economies of the ACP's three states, supporting 2,873 annual jobs in the region from 2014 to 2019, according to Chmura Economics & Analytics (www.dom.com/acp-chmura).