For many in this County, the news was all good to hear on June 19, 2020, when the Supreme Court struck down the claims of Cowpasture River Association, et al, allowing for the building of the ACP through National Forest Service Lands.
Rumors floated that a potential start back on the building of the ACP would begin after the 4th of July.
Jump ahead a few weeks and on Sunday, July 5th, Dominion Transmission announced their selling of natural gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire Hathaway with Berkshire paying $4 Billion in cash an additional assumption of 5.7 Billion in debts. Not include in this sale was Dominion’s WV assets and their agreement with Duke in building the ACP.
The following quote was taken from the atlanticcoastpipeline.com page: “Thomas F. Farrell, II, Dominion Energy chairman, president, and chief executive officer, and Lynn J. Good, Duke Energy chair, president, and chief executive officer, said:
“ We regret that we will be unable to complete the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. For almost six years we have worked diligently and invested billions of dollars to complete the project and deliver the much-needed infrastructure to our customers and communities. Throughout we have engaged extensively with and incorporated feedback from local communities, labor and industrial leaders, government and permitting agencies, environmental interests and social justice organizations. We express sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts and important contributions made by all who were involved in this essential project. This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States. Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country’s energy needs will be significantly challenged.”
The UGWU Local 69 message to the Dominion employees stated: “ Dominion Energy has notified the Union Leadership today at 3pm that they are selling Dominion Transmission/Storage to Berkshire Hathaway. They have also informed the Union of its intent to abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. DEWV is not part of the sale and Dominion will still own those assets. At this time we fully realize there are many unanswered questions and the Leadership is scheduling meetings with Labor Relations as well as the Company officials to transition employees and benefits over the next few months. The sale will be final sometime in the 4th quarter of 2020. The Union Leaders are committed to communicate information to the members as things develop. We ask the membership to stay calm and stay focused on their job, we have a 4 year contract and must be honored by the purchaser.”
Other statements about the sale and cancellation includes one from Shelley Moore Capito who said, “Today’s news that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction has been canceled is terrible and will cost West Virginia thousands of construction jobs. Our country has experienced tremendous growth in energy production over the last several years, which presents a huge opportunity for West Virginia’s economy. This project would have allowed for the expanded supplies of natural gas for residential and commercial heating and electricity generation, which would have provided affordable energy for residents and businesses while also spurring economic development. West Virginia is energy rich, and we should make it easier to use energy resources produced right here at home to meet demand across the country.”
And a statement from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey who said, “I’m deeply disappointed about this decision to cancel construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — a project which would have provided more than 1,000 West Virginian families with good paying jobs,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “My office helped lead the fight to reopen the pipeline at the U.S. Supreme Court and currently leads efforts to reverse the flawed national injunction to further limit construction on pipelines that recently came out of a Montana district court.
“The concept of one district court judge paralyzing the construction of pipelines across our country is very disconcerting. My office will look even more closely at this matter and will keep up our all-in fight for West Virginia jobs. We should and must not quit fights like these.”