Despite the recent victory for the project in the US Supreme Court, ongoing delays, litigation and rising costs are expected to threaten the economic viability of the project, the company said on Sunday.
The pipe, originally announced in 2014, has faced sharp criticism and legal challenges from environmental groups and others.
“This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that is weighing on large-scale energy and developing industrial infrastructure in the United States,” Thomas Farrell, chairman of Dominion Energy, said in a statement. “Until this problem is resolved, the ability to meet the country’s energy needs will be significantly challenged.”
The company has “worked diligently and invested billions of dollars to complete projects and provide much-needed infrastructure for our customers and communities” in the years since it was announced, Farrell said.
The announcement received cheers from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“This is extraordinary news for residents of Virgin West, Virginian and North Carolinian who deserve clean air, safe water and protection from climate change,” Gillian Giannetti, an NRDC lawyer, said in a statement.
“When they left this dirty pipe dream behind, Dominion and Duke now had to pivot to invest more in energy efficiency, wind and solar – that is the way to provide jobs and a better future for all,” Giannetti said.
US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette blamed the cancellation of the pipeline on “activists.”
“A well-funded and deterred environmental lobby has succeeded in killing the Atlantic Coastal Pipes, which will reduce energy costs for consumers in North Carolina and Virginia by providing affordable, abundant, and reliable supplies of natural gas from the Appalachian region,” he said.
