Transcontinental submits FERC application for massive gas pipeline project  

WASHINGTON – Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Williams) submitted a new application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) yesterday, to approve the largest proposed methane gas expansion project in the South since the controversial Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. The Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) would significantly expand the existing Transcontinental pipeline to primarily fuel new gas-fired power plants in the Carolinas and Georgia.   

Gas expansion projects, including the Transco expansion project, are being positioned to fuel a wave of new methane gas-fired power plants across the South. Utility plans reveal that monopoly utilities in SELC’s region are planning nearly 33,000 megawatts of new gas-fired capacity by 2038—enough to power over 25 million homes. But this energy isn’t intended for homes or local industries. Instead, Southern utilities are rushing to build these projects to serve the anticipated energy demands of data centers. This expansion could leave ratepayers across the South footing the bill for costly infrastructure projects, like the Transco pipeline, even if the data centers never materialize or fail to become operational. 

The Transco expansion project also represents a multi-generational investment in fossil fuels at a moment of deepening urgency in the climate crisis. Residential and industrial consumers have demanded cleaner, more affordable energy options that will reduce methane emissions and help us avert the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. Regulators have also started to respond. In North Carolina, for example, state law requires power companies to reduce carbon dioxide pollution seventy percent below 2005 levels by 2030. If this Transco expansion project is approved, it will result in tens of millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year, putting federal and state emissions reduction goals firmly out of reach. 

“The Transcontinental expansion project would cause significant harm to our climate, environment, and ratepayers,” said Megan Gibson, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. The need for this project is speculative – at best. FERC must take a hard look at whether the SSEP is necessary or just another attempt for the methane gas industry to line its pockets at the expense of Southern communities.” 

“Across the Southeast, pipeline companies and utilities are proposing billions of dollars in new fossil fuel infrastructure that will end up costing consumers and putting communities at risk from pollution and explosion dangers,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator at Appalachian Voices. “It’s long past time for FERC to stop rubberstamping pipelines without fully taking into account the threats they pose to communities, the environment and our climate.” 

“Transco applied to the federal government to construct SSEP, a giant new methane pipeline, across the Southeast,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Co-founder of 7 Directions of Service. “Its construction — like every pipeline in history — will permanently damage all in its path, from streams and rivers, to farms and soil, and cultural sites. Our growing opposition stands united and ready to defend the rights of rivers and communities against Transco’s SSEP and to ensure this unnecessary project is never built.”