North Carolina’s Alternative Gas Pilot Program Flares Up
North Carolina’s nascent biogas industry has witnessed significant progress in recent years. In March 2018, the Optima KV swine waste to renewable natural gas (“RNG”) project near Kenansville, North Carolina came online as the first RNG project in the state to inject RNG directly into the existing natural gas transportation system operated by Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (“Piedmont”).
With the success of the Optima KV project, other RNG projects are in process and more are sure to follow in light of North Carolina’s rich bioenergy resources. However, not long after the Optima KV project achieved commercial operation, the North Carolina Utilities Commission (the “Commission”) put the brakes on future development. RNG project developers and suppliers will now need to be accepted into a pilot program established by the Commission in order to be approved to interconnect with Piedmont’s existing natural gas transportation system.
By, E. Scott Bowers, IV & Joseph G. Tirone, The National Law Review