The US Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) has authorised Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to continue the construction of its gas pipeline project in light of a new assessment of its impacts on certain species. The 1.9 bcf/d (20 bcm/year) gas pipeline project will link Wetzel County (West Virginia) to Pittsylvania County (Virginia).
Mountain Valley Pipeline is a joint venture (JV) made of five companies, namely MVP Holdco (EQT Corporation), US Marcellus Gas Infrastructure (NextEra Energy Capital Holdings), Con Edison Gas Midstream, WGL Midstream and RGC Midstream. MVP plans to commission its long-delayed gas pipeline project in mid 2021 and to build an extension of the gas pipeline to the Rockingham and Alamance Counties in North Carolina by the end of 2021. In June 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a lower court decision regarding the U.S. Forest Service's authority to grant a right-of-way to cross the Appalachian Trail. The positive ruling clears the path for MVP's Appalachian Trail crossing. In September 2020, the US$5.4bn pipeline received a Nationwide Permit 12, which allows the crossing of water bodies, from the US Army Corp of Engineers and a draft supplemental environmental impact from the US Forest Service Bureau of Land Management. The project is 92% complete, 256 miles (412 km) of pipeline placed into the ground and 155 miles (249 km) of the route already restored.