Landowners were able to find out more about the project at an open house at Tuskegee’s Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Tuesday night.
The project is estimated to cost $3 billion and is being proposed by Kinder Morgan, one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in the country.
If approved, it’s estimated to be up and running between 2028 and 2029.
“Alabama Power have indicated to us, and they’re a part of this project, that they need additional natural gas capacity for really the next 20 to 30 years,” said Allen Fore, Kinder Morgan’s vice president of public affairs.
Kinder Morgan already operates about 3,000 miles of pipelines across Alabama. According to the company, about 40% of the natural gas consumed in the United States is transported through its pipelines.
“Folks that are watching can say, ‘Why are you building this? What is it for?’ It’s for a specific purpose, and that’s for homes and business, manufacturing in the Southeast and in Alabama,” Fore said.
“There’s a familiarity with what we’re doing,” said Fore. “Having those relationships over the years, working with landowners and sometimes generations of families who are part of this, really beneficial to a successful project.”
Joe Whitt is one of those landowners who has decades of experience with the company.
“Everything has been fantastic, no problem. I don’t anticipate any problems going forward,” Whitt said. “We’re just trying to find facts, how much space they’re going to need, potentially when they’re going to bring it through.”
Landowners receive compensation if a pipeline runs through their property, and the company says these kinds of projects will not force anyone to relocate.
In all, the project will add pipelines across 279 miles of existing assets.
