Federal regulators have given the green light to two major natural gas pipeline projects backed by Kinder Morgan, clearing the way for roughly $5.2 B in new energy infrastructure stretching from Mississippi to Georgia and South Carolina.
Federal regulators have given the green light to two major natural gas pipeline projects backed by Kinder Morgan, clearing the way for roughly $5.2 billion in new energy infrastructure stretching from Mississippi to Georgia and South Carolina.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order on July 31 approving certificates of public convenience and necessity for the Mississippi Crossing Project (MSX), proposed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, and the South System Expansion 4 Project (SSE4), jointly proposed by Southern Natural Gas Company and Elba Express Company. All three companies are affiliated with Kinder Morgan, one of the largest energy infrastructure operators in North America.
Together, the two projects will add more than 3.8 million dekatherms per day of incremental firm transportation capacity, creating a new pathway for gas to move from an interconnection with Tennessee Gas’ existing Line 100 in Washington County, Mississippi, to delivery points across the southeastern U.S.
The MSX Project alone calls for roughly 208 miles of new pipeline and lateral facilities in Mississippi and Alabama, three new compressor stations, four new meter stations and other supporting facilities, at an estimated cost of about $1.7 billion. It is designed to deliver 2.06 million dekatherms per day.
The SSE4 Project would expand Southern’s existing South Main Line system with 22 pipeline loops totaling roughly 291 miles across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, along with new and upgraded compressor stations, at an estimated cost of about $3.3 billion. Elba Express, whose system runs through Georgia and South Carolina, would add two new compressor units and a meter station at a cost of about $160 million. Combined, the SSE4 facilities will provide roughly 1.323 million dekatherms per day of new capacity on Southern’s system and 460,300 dekatherms per day on Elba Express’ system.
Tennessee Gas has signed long-term precedent agreements covering about 93% of the MSX Project’s capacity, while Southern and Elba Express have contracted out 100% of the capacity created by SSE4. Shippers include utilities and cooperatives such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Dominion Energy South Carolina, Southern Company Services, Atlanta Gas Light Company and South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper).
Need and opposition. FERC found that the volume of signed, long-term transportation contracts — the standard the agency has long relied on to demonstrate market need — provided sufficient evidence that the projects are needed, noting that interstate pipelines serving the Southeast are operating near or above peak capacity.
The approval came over the objections of the Sierra Club, the Alabama Rivers Alliance and several other environmental and community groups, which argued that a large share of the contracted capacity involves Kinder Morgan affiliates and related companies, and that projected demand — particularly from data centers — is speculative. The groups also sought an evidentiary hearing and asked the Commission to delay its decision to consider additional market studies.
FERC denied the request for a hearing, saying the written record was sufficient to resolve the disputed issues, and found no evidence of self-dealing between the pipeline companies and their affiliated shippers that would justify looking beyond the signed contracts.
FERC’s approval follows a multiyear environmental review, including a final Environmental Impact Statement issued in June that concluded the projects’ effects on land use, water resources, air quality, noise and wildlife would be less than significant once mitigation measures are in place. The pipelines will cross the Natchez Trace Parkway and several rivers using horizontal directional drilling to avoid surface disturbance.
The order includes dozens of environmental conditions, including noise-mitigation plans near sensitive areas, biweekly construction status reports, and a requirement that Kinder Morgan’s companies obtain sign-off from FERC staff before beginning or completing construction. Separately, FERC is requiring Southern to notify the Commission of a related abandonment of aging pipeline and compressor equipment that will be replaced as part of the upgrade.
Tennessee Gas, Southern and Elba Express each have three years from the date of the order to complete construction and place the new facilities into service.
