On January 29, 2025, FERC issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) to construct and operate its Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (Project).
The Project expands Transco’s existing natural gas transmission system in Virginia and North Carolina and will add approximately 1.6 million Dekatherms (Dth) per day of incremental firm transportation capacity. Transco states that the Project will allow it to remove pipeline capacity constraints in the Southeast and meet growing demand for natural gas-fired power generation. Transco executed ten precedent agreements for 100% of the Project’s capacity.
FERC concluded that, under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act, the Project is consistent with the public convenience and necessity and issued a CPCN for Transco to construct and operate the Project. FERC explained that Transco had demonstrated a need for the Project by entering into precedent agreements for 100% of the Project’s capacity. FERC emphasized that it “will not look beyond precedent agreements to assess need by other means unless there is credible, contrary evidence discounting their probative value.” Transco submitted a market study forecasting unprecedented electricity demand growth across the Southeast, due in part to new and expanding large loads, such as data centers and manufacturing facilities. Several environmental groups filed a competing report that in contrast concluded such large loads may not actually materialize, posing a risk of overbuilding pipeline infrastructure. FERC dismissed the environmental groups’ report as relying on “speculative assumptions pertaining to data center demand estimates” and found instead that state utility regulator-approved forecasts clearly demonstrated growing demand from large loads.
FERC also explained that the Project will not have adverse impacts on Transco’s existing shippers or other pipelines and that the Project’s benefits will outweigh any adverse effects. FERC stated that while it “recognizes that the proposed [P]roject would impact the environment and individuals living in the vicinity of the [P]roject facilities, but that the project impacts, as mitigated, would not be significant.”
Transco has issued a statement that it is targeting an in-service date for the Project by the end of 2027.
FERC’s order, issued in Docket No. CP25-10, can be accessed here.