Atlantic Coast Pipeline canceled; regulatory doubts cited

Light green area is the George Washington National Forest. (Bloomberg map)

Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. said Sunday that they are canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, due to delays and concerns over the project's viability.

The companies "spent years fighting regulatory battles that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled favorably for the companies last month," allowing the line to cross the Appalachian Trail, The Washington Post notes. But the firms "said in a statement that other recent federal court rulings have heightened the litigation risk, extended the project’s timeline and further ballooned the cost of the project, which already risen from an estimated $5 billion in 2014 to $8 billion today."

"They cited a Montana court ruling last month that threw another roadblock in the path of the Keystone XL Pipeline as an example of the continued challenges such projects face," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Utilities and pipeline companies have been trying to expand U.S. pipeline networks for more than a decade to take advantage of the bounty of oil and gas unlocked by the fracking boom. But many of the projects have encountered intense opposition from landowners, Native American groups and environmental activists concerned about climate change who want to keep fossil fuels in the ground."

The pipeline would have delivered gas to the Virginia coast for compression and export.