Residents of Virginia and North Carolina have expressed growing concerns over the expansion of a Williams Cos. pipeline meant to transport gas.
Williams, headquartered in Tulsa, is one of two major energy firms to transport gas through the Appalachian regions of the two states. But their plans, part of an effort to also create more electrical power for data centers, are being attacked by critics.
Those opposed to the lines contend the lines as well as compressor stations will be close to one another by only hundreds of feet in some locations.
The billion-dollar extensions proposed by Williams and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC are under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Virginia environmental regulators. Their plans are to link the lines to existing crosscountry networks. In the Williams case, it’s an effort to expand the Southeast Supply Enhancement line.
Williams wants to build 55 miles of pipeline to boost its Transcontinental gas Pipe line or Transco. It moves fracked gas from the Texas Gulf Coast across several states. The project is also called by Williams its Southeast Supply Enhancement Project or SSEP which would expand capacity for Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and other states.
FERC could have a decision for Williams by February 2026 while a ruling for Mountain Valley’s pipeline, which is operated by EQT Corp, perhaps by the end of this year.
Mountain Valley’s line is 31-miles of pipeline from Virginia to North Carolina and would amount to an extension of its 303-mile network from the Marcellus and Utica plays along the Pennsylvania border. Called the Southgate Extension, it has reviewed and revised since 2020.
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