ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT
Natural gas projects accelerate as Virginia’s energy needs soar
Proposed pipelines and data center developments raise questions about environmental impacts and community pushback.

BY: CHARLIE PAULLIN - DECEMBER 23, 2024 5:30 AM

Mountain Valley Pipeline’s right of way, seen from Boones Mill on July 25, 2023. (Scott Yates for the Virginia Mercury)

Virginia’s booming data center industry is driving unprecedented energy demands, straining the state’s natural gas infrastructure and prompting calls for new pipelines. A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report warns that expanding pipeline capacity may be necessary to meet the surge, bringing with it additional logistical and environmental challenges.

Some efforts to expand pipeline capacity are already underway. In October, Williams Companies filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP), which would add about 55 miles of pipeline — mostly in Southwest Virginia — to the existing 10,000-mile Transco Pipeline stretching from Texas to New York.

This follows the company’s approval last year for its Commonwealth Energy Connector Project in Southside, designed to link in Greensville County with the Columbia Gas Virginia Reliability Project. That initiative, now under construction, will deliver natural gas to the Hampton Roads region, addressing growing energy needs in that part of the state.

The Southgate extension project, an effort to extend the Mountain Valley Pipeline from Pittsylvania County into North Carolina, began consultations with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality this year for permit reviews.

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