This is a developing story.
Dominion Energy North Carolina plans to build a 45-mile pipeline between Eden and Roxboro connecting the controversial MVP Southgate project with Duke Energy’s planned new natural gas power plants.
Dominion’s Eden-to-Roxboro route would traverse east-southeast from the Dan River, passing through Ruffin, the site of a compressor station, and then run north of Yanceyville. Just west of Roxboro, the pipeline would turn north, ending at Hyco Lake.
A Duke Energy spokesman confirmed that the newly announced project would supply natural gas to the new power plants.
There are still unknowns in Dominion’s plan, as the MVP Southgate’s new route has yet to be announced or receive any state or federal permits.
The pipeline, known as the T15 Reliability Project, would parallel an existing pipeline right-of-way to mitigate environmental impacts, company officials said on a website devoted to the project.
However, natural gas wellheads, pipelines and compressor stations emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The pipeline would have to cross over or under many creeks and streams, which would require water quality permits from state and federal regulators. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality would likely conduct an environmental justice assessment as well, although it’s unlikely that those findings would negate the permit.
Members of The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation live in Caswell County; the Sappony reside in Person County, according to the N.C. Office of American Indian Affairs.
Since the pipeline would not cross state lines, it would not require certification from FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Person County is expected to be a focal point for future natural gas infrastructure: Duke Energy plans to build two new natural gas power plants over the next decade; Dominion also plans to construct as many as two liquified natural gas facilities in southeastern Person County in Moriah, near the Durham County line.
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