Published: August 6, 2021 |

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U.S. pipeline company Equitrans Midstream said on Tuesday the venture building the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia delayed its startup to the summer of 2022 and boosted its estimated cost to $6.2 billion.

Earlier, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) venture expected the project to enter service by the end of 2021 at an estimated cost of $5.8 billion-$6.0 billion.

Equitrans said the delay was due to requests by environmental regulators in Virginia and West Virginia to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to extend the 120-day review period to evaluate MVP’s water quality certification applications.

In anticipation of a lengthy legal battle, MVP in February decided to pull its previously approved Nationwide Permit 12, which allowed the pipeline to cross several waterbodies under one authorization, and instead file some 300 individual stream crossing permits with the Army Corps and states.

It is those applications the states want more time to review.

MVP is one of several U.S. pipelines delayed by regulatory and legal fights with environmental and local groups that found problems with federal permits — like the Nationwide Permit 12 — issued by the Trump administration.

When Mountain Valley started construction in February 2018, it estimated the project would cost about $3.5 billion and enter service by late 2018.

MVP is owned by units of Equitrans, NextEra Energy, Consolidated Edison, AltaGas, and RGC Resources.

RGC sees Mountain Valley gas pipeline completion by end 2021.

Source: Reuters

About Equitrans Midstream Corporation
Equitrans Midstream Corporation has a premier asset footprint in the Appalachian Basin and, as the parent company of EQM Midstream Partners, is one of the largest natural gas gatherers in the United States. Through its strategically located assets in the Marcellus and Utica regions, Equitrans has an operational focus on gas transmission and storage systems, gas gathering systems, and water services that support natural gas development and production across the Basin. With a rich 135-year history in the energy industry, Equitrans was launched as a standalone company in 2018 with the vision to be the premier midstream services provider in North America. Equitrans is helping to meet America’s growing need for clean-burning energy, while also providing a rewarding workplace and enriching the communities where its employees live and work.

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