Williams Companies submits federal application for massive new methane pipeline

Southeast Supply Enhancement Project would add 1.5 billion cubic feet per day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2024

CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (540) 798-6683, dan@appvoices.org 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, pipeline operator Williams Companies submitted a new application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a 42” diameter methane gas pipeline proposed for Virginia and North Carolina. The Transco Pipeline Expansion, also known as the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, would be added to the existing Transco pipeline network and is part of a massive expansion of gas infrastructure proposed for the Southeast.

The Transco Pipeline Expansion would include 26 miles of pipeline in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and 28 miles of pipeline in North Carolina with gas compression station expansions in Cleveland, Iredell and Davidson counties. Williams Companies wants to begin construction in fall of 2026 and begin service by the end of 2027.

Community members are concerned about the project’s impacts to local water resources including the Banister and Dan rivers. Those along the route in Virginia and Rockingham County, N.C. also face another pipeline, called Southgate, a co-located extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Additionally, a 3,500-megawatt methane gas plant from Balico, LLC, has been recently proposed in Chatham, Virginia. 

“Across the Southeast, pipeline companies and utilities are proposing billions of dollars in new fossil fuel infrastructure that will end up costing consumers and putting communities at risk from pollution and explosion dangers,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator. “It’s long past time for FERC to stop rubberstamping pipelines without fully taking into account the threats they pose to communities, the environment and our climate.”

“Today, Transco applied to the federal government to construct SSEP, a giant new methane pipeline, across the Southeast,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Co-founder of 7 Directions of Service. “Its construction — like every pipeline in history — will permanently damage all in its path, from streams and rivers, to farms and soil, and cultural sites. Our growing opposition stands united and ready to defend the rights of rivers and communities against Transco’s SSEP and to ensure this unnecessary project is never built.”

“Transco’s proposed Southeast Supply Enhancement Project is an unnecessary addition to our region’s energy infrastructure, as affordable, cleaner renewable energy options are readily available to meet our needs,” said Caroline Hansley, Campaign Organizing Strategist, Sierra Club. “We should be investing in sustainable energy sources instead of locking ourselves into costly, outdated fossil fuel projects.”