The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) announced May 27 that additional public testimony on Virginia Natural Gas’s proposed Header Improvement Project (HIP) will be received on June 8 at a virtual hearing, webcast by the SCC. The deadline for filing written comments is also extended to June 8, 2020.
For the June 8 hearing, SCC will call public witnesses who pre-register with the Commission prior to 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 4. The deadline to register is two business days in advance of the Monday, June 8 telephonic hearing that begins at 10 a.m. Each witness will have five minutes to provide testimony. For information on pre-registering, click here.
In a related development, a dozen Democrat members of the Virginia House of Delegates have written to Governor Northam and the SCC urging that approval of HIP be denied. The Delegates’ letter pointed to the “glut of gas” currently in the marketplace and stated:
. . . it is clear the HIP pipeline and the C4GT gas plant it is to service would most likely face significant economic setbacks that will only burden municipalities and VNG ratepayers. With the project and its buyers facing funding and other economic uncertainties including COVID-19 that may last well into the foreseeable future, this project is too big a financial risk therefore it cannot go forward. As representatives we must act in the best interests of our constituents, and ensure state decisions like these fully weigh the needs and consequences of this project.