Utica-Marcellus Natural Gas Pipeline Proosed For The Mid-Atlantic Coast -- January 4, 2015

Updates

July 24, 2018: milestone reached; FERC approves North Carolina portion.

Original Post 

Charlotte BizJournal is reporting:

N.C. regulators will allow Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas to make contracts between their utilities and commercial divisions for gas transportation on the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The unanimous vote by the N.C. Utilities Commission on Monday clears the way for Duke, Piedmont, Dominion Resources of Richmond, VA, and AGL Resources of Atlanta to make a preliminary filing next month for federal approval of the pipeline.

The 550-mile pipeline will run from eastern West Virginia, where it will access natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shale fields, southeastward across Virginia and southward through North Carolina to Robeson County.

It is expected to cost about $5 billion.

As Don pointed out: the folks in New England will still be arguing about natural gas pipelines when this pipeline is finished.

I don't know if folks know how "huge" North Carolina really is in terms of state economy, potential, etc. I think I read somewhere, 75% of the US population lives within a few hours of North Carolina. Apparently the I-40 corridor with Raleigh at one end, Winston-Salem at the other end, and Greensboro, Chapel Hill, and Durham in between.

Virginia, on its own, has a lot going for it, but then add in the fact it has all the good stuff coming out of Washington, DC (to the far northeast) without all the problems associated with an inner city.

This -- the proposed natural gas pipeline -- is a pretty big deal, the little I know about it.