Pipeline touted as recruiting tool

Rocky Mount Telegram
by Corey Davis

With the proposed 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline in the process of becoming a reality, local officials agree with pipeline officials about how the access to natural gas will pay great dividends in terms of spurring economic development and helping the recruitment of more industries to the Twin Counties and Eastern North Carolina.
The planned natural gas transmission pipeline is a joint partnership between major United States’ energy companies, including Duke Progess Energy, Dominion Transmission, Southern Gas and other utility companies to deliver approximately 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas for 592 miles through a pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and eight North Carolina counties, including Nash County.

Officials said pipeline construction is expected to be completed in 2018.

Recently, members of the North Carolina congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. George Holding, who represents Nash County, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in support of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. In addition, N.C. Rep. Bobbie Richardson, D-Nash, sent a letter to the commission endorsing the pipeline. The N.C. Economic Development Association also indicated its support for the project to the commission.

Tammie McGee, spokeswoman for Duke Progress Energy, said the economic impact from the construction and operation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is significant, but the real upside will be the ability of Eastern North Carolina counties to attract major industry and manufacturing companies once the infrastructure is in place.
“That will create the lasting and higher-paying jobs for Nash County, as well as providing annual property tax revenue, which is estimated to be at half a million in 2019 to almost a million by 2025,” McGee said. “That has the potential to benefit schools, health care facilities, emergency responders and other essential county services.”
Rocky Mount Energy Resources Director Richard Worsinger said Eastern North Carolina is underserved by natural gas. He added the Transcontinental Pipeline is the only interstate natural gas transmission line into North Carolina, which is pretty far away from the area.

Worsinger acknowledged the Rocky Mount area over the years has lost out on about a half dozen industry prospects that needed more gas than the city or Piedmont Natural Gas Co. could offer. He said typically there was a minimum of $50 million from Piedmont to reinforce their system that would have taken a number of years, which resulted in an economic development prospect going elsewhere where natural gas was readily available.
“Now we’re going to have a huge transmission pipeline running just west of Rocky Mount and we’ve got all the natural gas they’re going to need,” Worsinger said. “If a large industry wants to locate out at the Kingsboro Megasite and is a large natural gas user, this will support that.”

Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership, said while he knows there are some people in Nash County who oppose the pipeline coming through the area. But from an economic development standpoint, without the availability of natural gas it hurts the chances of selling a particular site to a potential client or industry.

He added the attraction for major industries is because natural gas is a steady source, which tends to be cheaper than propane.

“Every site that we’ve got that doesn’t have natural gas is going to get it because it’s all part of our selling pitch to a client,” Tolson said.

The Partnership is currently developing a site in Nash County, which he wouldn’t disclose, and vehemently pushing to get natural gas to it, Tolson said.

“We had a client just recently that was looking at that site and said they would need natural gas,” he said. “We told them that we would do our best to get it for you. It definitely has an impact on the clients we recruit when you talk about manufacturing, food processing and even some of the distribution operations that will require natural gas.”