The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC permission to build two loops on the planned 1.7-Bcf/d Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline project.
In a letter dated Dec. 14, FERC allowed Williams Partners LP's Transco to move forward with construction of the Chapman and Unity loops and the use of three contractor yards, all in Pennsylvania. The Atlantic Sunrise expansion project is expected to include approximately 200 miles of new interstate pipeline and related facilities, with the most of them in Pennsylvania and other work in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. (FERC docket CP15-138)
The approximately $3 billion project has been the source of significant opposition in the Northeast. FERC rejected requests for a rehearing of its order issuing a certificate to the project, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a request for an emergency stay of construction work on Nov. 8.
Gas shippers on the planned pipeline include Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. Anadarko Energy Services Co., Chief Oil & Gas LLC, Seneca Resources Corp. and WGL Midstream Inc.
