Redesign of Mountain Valley Pipeline extension project goes ‘to the heart’ of prior public interest

Virginia and North Carolina legislators are calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require a new certificate application for the “redesigned” Southgate Project of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

U.S. Reps. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia, Valerie Foushee of North Carolina and Kathy Manning of North Carolina today wrote to (FERC).

The Southgate Project of the MVP is a natural gas pipeline extension that would run from southern Virginia into northwestern North Carolina. On December 19, 2023, FERC approved an extension of the construction window for the original pipeline project. On December 29, 2023, MVP announced that it had “redesigned” the Southgate Project.

“The changes Mountain Valley proposes are substantial and go to the heart of the Commission’s prior public interest analysis. Fairness and the National Environmental Policy Act require that the Commission affords our constituents a robust and transparent review process for this new project,” the Members wrote.

The Members’ advocacy against the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Extension to FERC:

• In June, Representative McClellan and Representatives Manning and Foushee led separate, successful efforts to extend the public comment period for the Southgate certificate extension.

• In August, Representatives McClellan, Scott, Foushee, and Manning led 28 Members of Congress in urging FERC Secretary Kimberly Boss to deny an extension of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the MVPSouthgate project. The Commission failed to respond to the Members of Congress.

• On December 18th, ahead of the Commission’s hearing to approve an extension of the construction window for the original pipeline, Representatives McClellan, Scott, Foushee, and Manning sent a second letter urging FERC to deny the extension.

“The bottom line is that the redesigned Southgate Project will deliver a substantially greater volume of gas for a different purpose than the Commission approved in 2020,” the Members wrote. “We believe that Mountain Valley’s redesigned Southgate Project goes beyond a set of modest changes to an existing certificate—it is a new pipeline, one with a different purpose and different environmental impacts, including an increased contribution to the climate crisis.