Natural gas projects accelerate as Virginia’s energy needs soar

Mountain Valley Pipeline’s right of way, seen from Boones Mill on July 25, 2023. (Scott Yates for the Virginia Mercury)

Virginia’s booming data center industry is driving unprecedented energy demands, straining the state’s natural gas infrastructure and prompting calls for new pipelines. A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report warns that expanding pipeline capacity may be necessary to meet the surge, bringing with it additional logistical and environmental challenges.

Some efforts to expand pipeline capacity are already underway. In October, Williams Companies filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP), which would add about 55 miles of pipeline — mostly in Southwest Virginia — to the existing 10,000-mile Transco Pipeline stretching from Texas to New York.

This follows the company’s approval last year for its Commonwealth Energy Connector Project in Southside, designed to link in Greensville County with the Columbia Gas Virginia Reliability Project. That initiative, now under construction, will deliver natural gas to the Hampton Roads region, addressing growing energy needs in that part of the state. 

The Southgate extension project, an effort to extend the Mountain Valley Pipeline from Pittsylvania County into North Carolina, began consultations with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality this year for permit reviews.

In October, Balico, the Herndon-based developer previously associated with the canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline, proposed a massive data center campus with 84 buildings and an on-site natural gas plant for power. However, strong community opposition forced the company to scale back its plans.

Mike Atchie, director of community and project outreach for Williams Companies, emphasized the importance of the  SSEP, which seeks to expand natural gas infrastructure across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

“It ensures that infrastructure exists to support the rapid economic and population growth in the southeast,” Atchie said, adding that it also meets the region’s growing demand for stable and reliable energy to heat homes and power essential services.”.

The recent pipeline developments have drawn sharp criticism from environmental groups, who warn about the potential impact on waterways the projects may need to cross and the continued reliance on carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Scientists link these emissions to worsening climate change, including more frequent and intense storms. 

“Basically, we’re looking at two co-located projects,” said Jessica Sims, a field coordinator for Appalachian Voices. “You have two projects, co-located in Pennsylvania County, approximately [that] could be built at the same time.”

Williams Company plans to add about 55 miles of pipeline in Virginia and North Carolina through a series of loops —  parallel pipes designed to increase carrying capacity along existing lines.

In Virginia, the Eden Loop would include about 30.8 miles of 42 inch-diameter pipeline running from Pittsylvania County into Rockingham County, NC. The loop also includes two 33,000-horsepower electric-powered compressor stations, in addition to others in North Carolina.

Williams has requested approval for the project by February 2026, with an in-service date set for Nov. 1, 2027. Among the gas recipients are the City of Danville and Southwest Virginia Gas, which would take 1,500 and 5,000 dekatherms, respectively.

“Without new capacity, there is a risk of repeating past shortages and power outages,” Atchie said. “The expansion taps into established pipeline corridors to minimize environmental and landowner impacts and will be built and maintained using Williams’ industry-leading safety standards, including 24/7 monitoring and rigorous maintenance.”

The SSEP pipeline is planned to follow a similar route  to the 31-mile Southgate Extension project, which Mountain Valley Pipeline announced last year it would be reviving.

Since then, the company has engaged with federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), to discuss the permits required for the project’s revised scope, spokesperson Shawn Day said.

But Sims of Appalachian Voices raised concerns during a State Water Control Board meeting last month about Virginia code provisions that allow the DEQ to waive the requirement for a Section 401 permit under the federal Clean Water Act if the pipeline is below 36 inches. 

The revised plans reduced the Southgate pipeline from 75 to 31 miles, eliminating the need for a  controversial compressor station, but increased the pipeline diameter from 24 and 16 inches to 30 inches, still under the threshold allowing the DEQ to waive the need for a water permit.

“The cumulative impacts from two major construction projects is one reason to give South gain more scrutiny than last time,” Sims told the board, pointing to its proximity to the SSEP project.

When asked by the Mercury if the DEQ would waive any permits for the Southgate Extension project, DEQ spokesman John Giese said the agency has not received formal plans. “Southgate/Equitrans has informed [the] DEQ of their intent to move forward on a project and has discussed their general layout and timing of design,” Giese said. “However, no formal plans or permit application(s) have been submitted to [the] DEQ for review.” 

The project is aiming to be operational by 2028, “to provide PSNC Energy and Duke Energy with an affordable, reliable and resilient natural gas supply to meet residential and business demand and generate electricity,” MVP Southgate spokesman Day said, adding the project “will secure all necessary permits and authorizations.”

The JLARC report highlighted natural gas as the most viable option for onsite power generation, a necessity for many large-scale projects in Southwest Virginia.

“Of the current technologies available, only natural gas appears viable for on-site generation, and it can be deployed only close to pipeline infrastructure that has sufficient capacity to serve generation needs,” the report stated.

In Pittsylvania County, Balico initially proposed a 2,300-acre data center campus with a 3,500-megawatt natural gas plant, but withdrew the plan after significant community pushback. In November, the company submitted a scaled down application for a project requiring “more than 760 acres” and rezoning land for “private electric power generation,” with a letter of intent from Mountain Valley Pipeline owner, EQT, “for the supply of a sufficient volume of natural gas to fuel the power plant proposed for the campus.”

The proposal is expected to be reviewed next year. Nearby, the town of Hurt passed a resolution supporting the project, agreeing to provide 2 million gallons of water per day through the construction of  a new water plant. Community opposition to the original proposal had largely centered on the water demands of the project.