By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday granted a three-year extension for completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project. MVPS now has until June 18, 2026, to complete the line and put it into service.
FERC voted on MVPS’s timeline extension request during its Tuesday meeting. The 18-page order details arguments opposing the extension and FERC’s reasoning for granting the request.
As background, MVPS is planned to extend 40 miles from MVP’s Virginia endpoint to the North Carolina border and another 34 miles into North Carolina. MVP announced the project in May 2018 and applied for FERC approval that November. FERC issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in June 2020.
FERC’s certificate required completion of the project by June 18 this year, but that deadline was not met and MVP requested the extension to June 18, 2026.
FERC observed that MVP – which will design, build and own the pipeline – has been prevented from completing Southgate due to the terms of its certificate, which required construction to resume on the mainline MVP before construction of Southgate could commence. Passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act now allows MVP to resume construction of the main line.