Manchin Celebrates Beginning of Gas Flowing Through Mountain Valley Pipeline

To watch a video of Chairman Manchin and MVP leaders discussing today’s achievement, click here.

Charleston, WV – Today, Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was joined by Tom Karam, Executive Chairman of Equitrans Midstream, and Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT, to celebrate the official start of operations of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

“Today, I'm joined by Tom Karam, Executive Chairman of Equitrans Midstream, and Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT, to announce that the Mountain Valley Pipeline has officially entered service and natural gas is now flowing. Since our state's founding in 1863, West Virginians have stepped forward time and again for causes greater than ourselves. We've mined the coal that forged the steel that helped turn our country into the greatest industrial might the world has ever seen. And along the way, our great state burnished our legacy as America's energy powerhouse. This pipeline is essential in ensuring the nation's energy and national security and providing affordable, reliable natural gas to hundreds of thousands of Americans. And today, with the Mountain Valley Pipeline officially in service, we are continuing to fulfill that legacy,” said Chairman Manchin.

“And it's been said, build it and they will come. In West Virginia, we have the ability to produce and to transport and be able to deliver the best, cleanest energy and technology that we have today to create more opportunities,” continued Chairman Manchin.

“Without your efforts, we wouldn't be here today, MVP would not be coming into service. Early on, you saw the critical need and benefits to West Virginia and to the nation. And because of that you worked for years, behind the scenes, to educate your colleagues, and to develop bipartisan support, to do something that had only been done one other time in the history of this nation. And that is to have legislation passed, determining that a pipeline is in the nation's interest and mandating that it be completed. What an amazing feat. We wouldn't be here today without that,” said Tom Karam, Executive Chairman of Equitrans Midstream. “More importantly, when MVP is flowing, we will be flowing two BCF a day of natural gas to this region, providing affordable and reliable natural gas to millions of consumers, and thousands of existing and new businesses in the region. All while making sure that as we built MVP, we followed rigorous environmental, and safety protocols. And when we operate it, we will continue to follow the highest standards.”

“This is such an important day because the completion of MVP is the beginning of opportunity creation, for our communities, for America, for our allies, and for the planet. For our communities, the gas that's flowing through Mountain Valley Pipeline will create a reinvestment opportunity to fill that pipe in the billions of dollars, drilling and producing more gas in our producing regions,” said Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT. “We are going to be giving American manufacturing the biggest competitive advantage you can give them and that's access to affordable energy. This is a tremendous opportunity for our American manufacturers.”

A timeline of Chairman Manchin’s public efforts for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is available here.