Mountain Valley Pipeline Finally Is Up And Running

After years of lawsuits and political wrangling, early last week federal regulators gave their final approval to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 303-mile pipeline, which is set to carry natural gas from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The pipeline began operating last Friday.

As Connecting the Dots explained last month, the completion of the MVP is critical to U.S. energy security. The $7.85 billion project, which had been slated for completion in the early part of 2024, is the only natural gas project under construction in the Appalachian region. Now that the pipeline is online, it can bring clean, affordable energy to homes and businesses throughout the eastern portion of the United States.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) celebrated the advancement in person on Friday at the pipeline’s opening, and on social media.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, another lawmaker from West Virginia, also praised federal regulators’ decision to approve the project. “After receiving all the necessary permits and approvals from both Republican and Democrat administrations, overcoming needless delays by courts and climate activists, this critical project is in now in service and can begin to deliver needed energy to markets up and down the Atlantic coast,” Sen. Capito said. “This entire process took a lot of perseverance, and I’m glad we fought every step of the way to help the Mountain Valley Pipeline come to fruition, which will benefit workers and consumers for years to come.”