Controversial gas pipeline back on table after agency approves deadline extension

Federal regulators approved a three-year extension to complete Mountain Valley Pipeline's Southgate project. The proposed expansion would add 73 miles to the controversial natural gas mainline in southern Virginia to North Carolina, crossing through Rockingham and Alamance Counties.

The $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline is being built to carry fracked natural gas 304 miles from West Virginia to Virginia, but has met opposition from environmental groups.

After permitting delays for the Southgate extension, owners of the pipeline missed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's initial deadline in June. Developers now have until June 18, 2026 to build the Southgate pipeline after Tuesday's order.

“Burdening community members with additional pollution from a gas-fired compressor station makes even less sense now than when this project was originally approved,” said Mark Sabath, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Nearly 40,000 weighed in during FERC's public comment period on the extension, including Ridge Graham, the NC program manager for Appalachian Voices, a grassroots environmental organization.

“FERC’s decision disregards the tens of thousands who weighed in asking for denial of the certificate extension” Graham said. “Granting MVP Southgate more time to potentially endanger communities and water resources is appalling."

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and other elected officials from North Carolina and Virginia have also urged regulators to deny the deadline extension.

Members of congress in North Carolina and Virginia, including Reps. Valerie Foushee, Kathy Manning, Jennifer McClellan, and Bobby Scott, wrote a letter to FERC Monday saying, in part: "If built, this pipeline would lock homes and businesses in the Southeast into the long-term use of natural gas during a critical moment in which we must transition away from fossil fuels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."

The commission determined in its approval that "Mountain Valley has demonstrated good cause for an extension and that the environmental and public interest findings in the Certificate Order remain valid."

Duke Energy has expressed a need for the pipeline to support its planned expansion of gas-powered plants across the state.