South North Carolina News

Dominion Energy and Duke Energy are canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project because of legal challenges and potentially increasing costs, the companies' executives said in a joint news release on July 5. 

"We regret that we will be unable to complete the Atlantic Coast Pipeline," 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 in the joint news release. "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."

The companies, while winning some legal battles to develop the pipeline, have also faced significant setbacks from court decisions at the state and federal level over permits, which rendered the project economically non-viable, the news release detailed. 

More recently, the courts ruled against the companies about permits in Montana, overturning federally authority when it comes to waterbody and wetland crossings. The companies said the United States District Court for the District of Montana could lead to additional and similar cases going forward. 

The legal challenges along with other various issues have caused significant project cost increases and time delays. A recent projection shows that the project cost has increased to $8 billion from the original estimate of $4.5 to $5 billion and that the project has been delayed by approximately three and a half years with uncertainty remaining, the companies said.

"This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States," Farrell and Good said in the joint statement. "Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country’s energy needs will be significantly challenged."