On June 18, 2020, in Docket No. CP19-14-000, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Mountain Valley authorizing Mountain Valley to construct and operate the MVP Southgate Project. Mountain Valley is now seeking to amend the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to construct approximately 31 miles of pipeline from southern Virginia to central North Carolina.
MVP Southgate will tie into the Mountain Valley Pipeline near Chatham, Virginia, and transport natural gas to delivery points in Rockingham County, North Carolina, to serve PSNC and Duke. The project is proposed to terminate adjacent to an existing interconnect facility in Rockingham County.
As stated in the Amendment Application filed with FERC, Mountain Valley has secured a firm commitment from PSNC and Duke for 550,000 dekatherms (550 million cubic feet) per day. The proposed route passes through a portion of the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill, which is one of the largest business parks on the East Coast. As an open-access pipeline, the proposed pipeline also may provide additional access to other new and existing end users in proximity to the route.
As currently planned, the pipeline will be 30 inches in diameter. The project will require approximately 50 feet of permanent easement, with up to an additional 50 feet of temporary easement during construction (for a total of up to 100 feet during construction). The project does not include a compressor station.
Designing the Route
Engineering aspects have included surveying and evaluating various routes to help determine a proposed route with the least overall impact to landowners, cultural and historic resources, and the environment. During the pre-filing review, which began in May 2018, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, contracted with surveying professionals, who are licensed in the states in which work is being performed, to perform survey activities on its behalf for the MVP Southgate project. The MVP Southgate team also hosted open houses and participated in FERC scoping meetings as part of a comprehensive effort to encourage open discussion with community members, landowners, tribes and public agencies.
The proposed MVP Southgate route has been carefully designed to utilize existing gas and electric transmission corridors where possible, resulting in approximately 64 percent of the proposed route co-located with those existing corridors. The proposed route also has been designed to avoid sensitive or protected areas where feasible, limit surface disturbance, address environmental justice concerns and minimize the overall environmental footprint. As part of the MVP Southgate project team’s commitment to communities, the project team has considered a wide range of alternatives and variations to the proposed route, and has made more than 1,000 route adjustments, the majority of which were in response to landowner requests, engineering considerations, or the identification of sensitive areas. These adjustments are reflected in the current proposed route.