Mountain Valley Secures Con Edison as New Shipper Commitment
Mountain Valley Pipeline and Consolidated Edison intend to deliver natural gas to industrial and consumer end-use markets located in the growing demand areas of the Northeast United States. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (Con Edison) agreed to a 20-year transportation contract for 250,000 dekatherms per day of firm capacity on Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Con Edison also agreed to a 20-year firm transportation agreement for 250,000 dekatherms per day on the Equitrans system, located in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, providing more direct access to supply resources upstream of Mountain Valley Pipeline. Equitrans is owned and operated by EQT Midstream Partners LP.
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“Con Edison is responsible for obtaining low-cost, reliable supply to meet its gas customers’ needs. The Mountain Valley Pipeline and Equitrans capacity agreements allow customers to achieve significant savings,” said Ivan Kimball, vice president of energy management, Con Edison.
With the rapid development and vast supply of natural gas in the Appalachian region, the strategic design of the Mountain Valley Pipeline will extend from the Equitrans transmission system in Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co.’s (Transco) Zone 5 compressor station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is expected to provide at least 2 million dekatherms per day of firm transmission capacity. The project has secured commitments at 20-year terms for this amount, which will support communities along the route, as well as the growing demand markets of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States.
“Con Edison is a well-respected utility company that has been serving its northeast customers for more than 190 years and we are thrilled to have them as a partner with Mountain Valley Pipeline. Their participation further validates the need for supply diversification, which is offered through Mountain Valley Pipeline’s access to one of our country’s largest and lowest-cost energy resources,” said Randy Crawford, COO, EQT Midstream Partners. “The Mountain Valley Pipeline project addresses Appalachian infrastructure limitations and, more importantly, offers supply diversity to meet the increasing demand for safe, reliable natural gas by both consumer and industrial markets.”
In another agreement, Con Edison Gas Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc., will acquire a 12.5 percent ownership interest in Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC. Mountain Valley is a joint venture between five different companies. EQT Midstream Partners LP is operator of the proposed pipeline with a 45.5 percent ownership interest. Other affiliates include NextEra Energy Inc. at 31 percent ownership, WGL Holdings Inc. at 7 percent, Vega Energy Partners Ltd. at 3 percent and RGC Resources Inc. at 1 percent.
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The Mountain Valley Pipeline is an approximately 300-mile long, 42-in. diameter pipeline, with an estimated total project cost of $3 billion to $3.5 billion. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC filed a certificate application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in October 2015. Subject to approval by the FERC, the the company is targeting a full in-service during the fourth quarter of 2018.
