State budget includes money to study tapping into natural gas pipeline in Tazewell and Russell counties

Studies that will explore the economic development benefits of extending natural gas from a major pipeline in Southwest Virginia to Tazewell and Russell counties were funded in the state budget approved last week.

Each county will receive $100,000 from the general fund for fiscal year 2025 for its own study.

Originally, the budget amendment filed by state Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, asked for a total of $250,000 just for Tazewell County, where officials have been working for more than a decade to tap into a pipeline that runs through the county. Tazewell County is the third largest producer of natural gas in the state, but businesses and residents there have little access to it.

With electricity prices rising in Southwest Virginia, which is served by Appalachian Power, and with the cost of natural gas at historic lows, county officials are trying to finally make the project happen.

Tazewell County wants to run natural gas to the western end of the county, which is the site of a lot of industries, Southwest Virginia Community College and an under-construction salmon farm project .

County Administrator Eric Young said Friday that the plan is to commission a study to determine the likely usage along the route, get an estimate of the cost of construction, and determine what the rate would be for customers along the route.

“This will inform us as to what the revenue stream would be from the usage to help pay for construction and how much we would need in grants and loans,” Young said, adding that $100,000 won’t pay for the actual design of the line but should provide a good estimate for the cost per foot, which would be a “starting point.”

Young added that the project has gotten public support and attention from the region’s lawmakers, and he feels they are closer to moving forward than on any previous attempt.

Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, added Russell County to the budget request, saying that a new company is trucking in propane to use in its fabrication process and could benefit from the extension of natural gas.

In Russell County, the natural gas would run from a connection point near Castlewood, west along U.S. 58 to the Russell County-Wise County line.

If the results of the studies are positive, Hackworth has said that he will go back during next year’s General Assembly session and ask for money to help pay for a needed decompression station, which would cost $2.5 million to $3 million.

Last week, the General Assembly approved a budget compromise for fiscal years 2024-26, bringing an end to an impasse between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Democrats. Youngkin signed the $188 billion spending plan later that day.

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