The Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile project between West Virginia and Virginia is set to be completed, pending the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act in Congress. The Fiscal Responsibility Act includes favorable language that massively benefits the pipeline project, which has been under fire since it started construction 5 years ago in 2018.
The Mountain Valley pipeline is being constructed by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, a joint venture between EQM Midstream Partners, LP (a wholly owned subsidiary of Equitrans Midstream Corporation, ETRN); NextEra Capital Holdings, Inc.; Con Edison Transmission, Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream, LLC.
EQM Midstream Partners holds a significant interest in the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project with a 45.7% stake in the joint venture. Additionally, EQM Midstream Partners holds a 47.2% interest in the MVP Southgate project, a 75-mile pipeline extension from the main Mountain Valley Pipeline in southern Virginia into North Carolina.
In February of 2018, the Mountain Valley Pipeline project began construction, and was initially planned to open in late 2018 at a cost of $3.5 billion dollars. Fast forward over 5 years later, and the project is still under construction at a cost of $6.6 billion dollars, nearly a 100% increase in project costs since 2018 due to construction delays brought upon by intense legal pushback.
In January of 2022, the project hit a major setback when the U.S. Court of Appeals of the 4th Circuit vacated the record of decisions from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management that would have allowed the pipeline to cross 3.5 miles through the Jefferson National Forest. This legal setback further pushed back the completion time for the project, and it is now targeting an In-Service Date in the second half of this year.
Language in the Fiscal Responsibility Act gives the project a more favorable legal outlook. Specifically, the bill would give the DC Circuit jurisdiction over future litigation involving the project. In past years, the pipeline’s approvals have been challenged in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals with lots of pushback. The bill would also require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue a permit for the pipeline within 21 days of enactment and limit court review of agency permits and approvals for the pipeline.
Equitrans Midstream Corporation (ETRN) spent a relatively large amount of money on corporate lobbying last month, spending $310,000 lobbying for issues related to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This includes lobbying for issues related to National Forest land and water issues, public land and water issues, and natural gas and pipeline related issues. All of these issues directly impact the MVP project and its construction. You can check out Quiver’s lobbying dashboard (Quiver Quantitative) to view all of their recent spending on corporate lobbying.
