The Williams Cos. Inc. has pulled its investment in the Constitution Pipeline project, a 125-mile line proposed to move natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania to New York State.
The Tulsa, Okla.-based pipeline giant said in a press release on Feb. 21 that it took the action in consultation with its partners—Duke Energy Corp., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Calgary, Alberta-based AltaGas. The company said in its annual report, released Feb. 20, that the Constitution would suffer a 2019 loss of $354 million. Williams’ 41% stake in the project equates to $145 million.
“While Constitution did receive positive outcomes in recent court proceedings and permit applications, the underlying risk adjusted return for this greenfield pipeline project has diminished in such a way that further development is no longer supported,” the company said in the press statement. “Our existing pipeline network and expansions offer much better risk-adjusted return than greenfield opportunities which can be impacted by an ambiguous and vulnerable regulatory framework.”
Opponents of the project expressed delight.
“We are thrilled to see the fracked gas Constitution Pipeline has finally been canceled,” said Kelly Martin, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign, in a statement. “As people across New York and Pennsylvania have said all along, there was no need for this dirty, dangerous project. Had Williams listened to the impacted communities eight years ago, they could have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in clean, renewable energy sources, instead of wasting it on a fracked gas pipeline that they’ve now abandoned.”