Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas announced that they selected Dominion to build and operate a 550-mile interstate natural gas pipeline from West Virginia, through Virginia and into eastern North Carolina.
The project, called Atlantic Coast Pipeline, is expected to serve as a key infrastructure engine to drive economic development and create jobs.
The pipeline has an estimated cost of between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, an initial capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, and a target in-service date of late 2018.
The project will require Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval, which Dominion will seek to secure by summer 2016.
Gas will be carried through a 42-inch-diameter pipe in West Virginia and Virginia, and a 36-inch-diameter pipe in North Carolina.
The pipeline will begin in Harrison County, W.Va. In North Carolina, the pipeline will enter the state in Northampton County and will terminate in Robeson County at existing Piedmont Natural Gas transmission facilities.