Dominion Asks FERC to begin environmental review on supply header project

Dominion submitted a pre-filing request Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking the commission to begin its environmental review of the proposed $500 million Supply Header Project.

Dominion’s Transmission subsidiary would build and operate the project, which would provide an additional 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day between the facilities of Dominion Transmission and the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, primarily through looping along existing pipeline rights of way and additional compression at existing stations.

According to Dominion, the Supply Header Project would increase access to natural gas supplies from the Marcellus and Utica basins – and other upstream sources – to Virginia and North Carolina end users.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a separate joint-venture project among Dominion and three other major U.S. energy companies – Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources.

“The Supply Header project is another example of the many opportunities Dominion has to help fill the significant need for new infrastructure to bring prolific supplies throughout the Marcellus and Utica basins to market,” Diane Leopold, president of the company's Dominion Energy business unit, said in a statement.

The extensive FERC review process that begins with pre-filing solicits input from numerous local, state and federal entities and private citizens. Many issues such as public safety, air quality, water resources, threatened and endangered species  and reasonable alternatives are examined. The project will need the approvals of federal, state and local environmental regulatory agencies before construction can begin.

Dominion said it expects to file its FERC application in September 2015, receive the FERC Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in the summer of 2016 and begin construction shortly thereafter.