Greenbrier Pipeline Suspends Field Work As Dominion Reviews Best Use Of Investment Capital In Growing Mid-Atlantic Energy Markets
RICHMOND, Va. - Greenbrier Pipeline Co. LLC is suspending
field work on its planned Greenbrier
Pipeline while project parent Dominion (NYSE:D) reviews whether to shift
budgeted funds for pipeline development into expansions now under way at Dominion's
Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal in southern Maryland.
Thos. E. Capps, chief executive officer of Dominion, said:
"The need for investment in new energy infrastructure
to serve the growing Mid-Atlantic energy market is steady. Yet, the market is
telling us the nature and priority of the needed infrastructure is evolving.
Our duty to investors and customers is to be financially flexible, to monitor
the market conditions and, ultimately, to deploy our investment capital where
the market tells us it is most urgently needed."
The suspension is not expected to affect the company's earnings
growth forecasts.
Capps added: "The pipeline remains a viable project.
Our capital allocation study does not and should not send the signal that there
is no long-term need for incremental growth. Both local distribution companies
and long-term power generation growth in the Mid-Atlantic region will require
a better gas transportation network. Our pause raises only an issue of pipeline
timing, not pipeline need."
Greenbrier has existing agreements with some customers along
the proposed pipeline route and continues to negotiate with both existing and
other potential customers.
Greenbrier will honor all agreements it has signed with landowners
along the right-of-way, but has withdrawn other offers that have not been accepted.
Greenbrier will continue to work with regulators and interested stakeholders
so that it can move quickly to resume field work on the project at the appropriate
time. The Greenbrier Pipeline is a proposed 280-mile interstate pipeline from
West Virginia to North Carolina.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with a diversified and integrated energy portfolio that includes more than 24,000
megawatts of generation and 6.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural
gas reserves. Dominion also serves 5.3 million retail energy customers in nine
states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's web site at
www.dom.com.
