Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s Statement on the Mountain Valley Pipeline Expansion | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Recently, Senator Phil Berger and 28 other senators wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting approval for an extension to the completion date of the MVP Southgate project. The Southgate project would extend the Mountain Valley Pipeline running southwest from Chatham before entering North Carolina just northeast of Eden.

    Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the Chairman of the North Carolina Energy Policy Council, had this to say on the expansion and the request for FERC to extend the completion date.

    "The Mountain Valley Pipeline Expansion in North Carolina has the potential to secure our regional energy infrastructure by establishing redundancy in our natural gas supply. This additional pipeline will promote sustainable growth across our state as citizens look to power their homes and businesses. As recently as 2021, North Carolinians suffered when the Colonial Pipeline was taken offline due to a ransomware attack. My primary concerns for North Carolina's ratepayers are always the security and affordability of utilities, and the MVP Expansion addresses both."

    Lt. Governor Robinson continues, "I applaud those in our state and across the country, from both sides of the isle who have stepped up to raise awareness on this issue and want to continue to see this project through. In North Carolina, homes and businesses alike show a growing demand for natural gas. As our use of natural gas to generate power has quadrupled over the last decade, it is imperative for grid reliability and security to build redundancy in our transmission of what has become an increasingly essential resource for our state. North Carolina's lack of sustainable natural gas reserves or production capacity exemplify the reasons I support the development of an additional interstate pipeline. With that in mind, I urge FERC to grant the extension so that our state may continue to grow and make strides toward securing our grid and reducing our carbon emissions."

• Contact: John Wesley Waugh
•     john.waugh@nc.gov