Federal regulators agreed Thursday to amend the certificate for Mountain Valley’s Southgate pipeline — a victory for developers and a blow to opponents who cast doubt on a need for the natural gas project.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision approved Mountain Valley’s request to shorten the pipeline’s length from 75 miles down to 31 miles, while increasing the diameter of the project to 30 inches. It had been set to be a mixture of 16-inch and 24-inch diameter pipe.
FERC — which in 2020 blessed the project now known as MVP Southgate — said Thursday that Mountain Valley has demonstrated a need for the pipeline. The project would extend the existing Mountain Valley pipeline into North Carolina.
“The amendment is a great story of efficiency,” FERC Chair Laura Swett said Thursday during the commission open meeting. “The project is going to provide 175,000 dekatherms a day more capacity, at less than half the original length and with substantially fewer water crossings and fewer environmental impacts, than the original plan.”
