CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Dominion — announcing a joint venture Tuesday with Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources — has officially confirmed its plans to build a natural gas pipeline from Harrison County to southeast North Carolina.
The project, originally proposed by Dominion as the Southeast Reliability Pipeline Project, is now called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
The 550-mile interstate pipeline is expected to cost between $4.5-$5 billion and will run southeast from Harrison County through Virginia and into North Carolina.
Jim Norvelle, a Dominion spokesman, said the proposed pipeline will help meet a growing demand for affordable Marcellus and Utica gas in the Southeast.
Norvelle pointed to an increasing need for natural gas for heating, electric generation and industrial purposes as the three main drivers for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
In a release Tuesday, company representatives described the pipeline as “transformational” in terms of bringing to market the significant production from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Marcellus Shale field produced more than 15 billion cubic feet per day for the entire month of July.
Norvelle said the production coming from this region is certainly gaining notice.
“They’re having to rewrite the rule book on this one. They’re seeing production numbers coming out of the Marcellus that are leaving people’s heads shaking because they’re so dramatic…