Embattled Mountain Valley gas pipeline begins operating

By Carlos Anchondo | 06/14/2024 01:30 PM EDT

Developers announced the startup days after receiving a green light from federal regulators.

A segment of the Mountain Valley pipeline.

A segment of the Mountain Valley pipeline is shown. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC

The Mountain Valley pipeline started up Friday, reaching a milestone that looked uncertain before Congress stepped in last year to ensure the natural gas project would be completed.

The 303-mile pipeline went into service three days after federal energy regulators gave the project permission to commence operations and a decade after its inception.

Developers of Mountain Valley notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a filing Friday and issued a news release from Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the joint venture behind the project. The company said the pipeline is “now available for interruptible or short-term firm transportation service until long-term firm capacity obligations” start next month.

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Diana Charletta, the CEO at Equitrans Midstream, the pipeline’s lead developer, called the pipeline’s startup “an important and long-awaited day for our Nation and the millions of Americans who now have greater access to an abundant supply of domestic natural gas.”

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