The Biden administration’s pause on natural gas exports may have climate advocates cheering — but it’s done little to faze growing domestic demand for the fossil fuel. Pipeline giant Williams Cos. is planning a massive project in the Southeast that would rival the controversial Mountain Valley pipeline in size, my colleague Carlos Anchondo and I write today. While the pipeline could carry some gas for export, its focus would be delivering the fuel to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. And the leading potential buyers are Southeast utilities planning to add record amounts of gas-fired generation to replace retiring coal. The project reflects power providers’ hunger for natural gas as a bedrock fuel while electricity demand surges. That has drawn criticism from environmentalists, because using gas to generate electricity could complicate the country’s goal of a carbon-free grid by 2035. The proposed Southeast Supply Enhancement project would expand the existing capacity of the sprawling Transcontinental pipeline, which runs about 10,000 miles from Texas to New York. Williams expects to file initial paperwork with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in “early 2024,” according to its website Thursday. The company has not responded to requests for comment, but CEO Alan Armstrong told investors last year that “urgent demands” from customers make the project worthwhile. The amount of gas from the expansion would be “probably enough to run five or six big new gas plants,” Greg Buppert with the Southeast Environmental Law Center told me Wednesday. The news follows President Joe Biden’s decision to slam the brakes on new permits for liquefied natural gas exports, directing the Department of Energy to analyze how shipments overseas affect greenhouse gas emissions and energy prices. Environmentalists pressured the administration to make good on the U.S. commitment to join other countries in moving away from fossil fuels. It’s still unclear how much the pause will slow LNG growth. The U.S. remains the world’s largest LNG exporter, with capacity expected to nearly double by 2030, and it produces more oil and gas than any other country in the world.
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