Atlantic Coast Pipeline Signs Pipe Manufacturing Contract with Dura-Bond Industries

RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, which has proposed a 550-mile natural gas pipeline to bring much-needed energy to Virginia and North Carolina, today announced an agreement totaling more than $400 million with Dura-Bond Industries to produce steel pipe for the project.

Pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) would run from Harrison County, W.Va., southeast through Virginia with a lateral extension to Chesapeake, Va., and then south through eastern North Carolina to Robeson County. If approved, construction is scheduled to start in late 2016.

Dura-Bond, which ACP LLC selected after an extensive bidding process, is scheduled to produce the pipe at its Steelton, Pa., mill beginning late 2015 through March 2017. Dura-Bond plans to hire about 150 employees at the mill to run a second shift of union workforce to meet the schedule.

"We are excited to work with Dura-Bond, one of the nation's premier suppliers of gas transmission pipeline," said Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy. "Dura-Bond has an outstanding reputation in the industry and has been a long-term supplier of pipe and pipe coating for Dominion's gas transmission business, dating back to the 1970s.

"This contract alone will provide significant economic growth to the region, beyond cleaner air, lower customer bills and jobs," Leopold added.

The ACP joint venture reached the agreement with Dura-Bond prior to FERC approval because of the long lead time needed to buy raw materials and to get a guaranteed production schedule for this large amount of new pipe. ACP expects to file its FERC application late this summer, receive its FERC certificate in the summer of 2016 and begin construction shortly thereafter. The pipeline is expected to be in service by late 2018.

Producing about 540 miles of pipe ranging from 30 to 42 inches outside diameter is the largest single order in Dura-Bond's history, said Dura-Bond Vice President Jason Norris.

"We are extremely pleased with such a large pipe order, and are proud that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline partners have the faith and trust in us," said Norris. "Since 2006, we've produced nearly 200 miles of pipe for Dominion and are excited to secure this tremendous order. We have a lot of work ahead of us and we will be up for the task.

"This is a great example of how the growth in the Marcellus Shale impacts the economy," added Norris."This increase in activity at Dura-Bond also means more business for our local suppliers who we depend on and support whenever we can, so the trickle-down effect will be significant."

In a separate transaction, Dominion signed an agreement with Dura-Bond to produce 39 miles of additional 36-inch and 30-inch outside diameter steel pipe for the company's Supply Header Project in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, which has the ACP as its primary customer. The Supply Header project schedule is the same as for the ACP.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC is composed of four major U.S. energy companies – Dominion, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) and AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS). The joint venture partners plan to build and own the $4.5 billion-to-$5 billion pipeline, which would help meet the growing clean energy needs of Virginia and North Carolina by providing direct access to the burgeoning natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

About Dominion

Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600 megawatts of generation, 12,400 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,455 miles of electric transmission lines.  Dominion operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 949 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

About Dura-Bond Industries

Dura-Bond Industries, founded in 1960, supplies gas transmission, midstream, gathering and gas distribution pipeline companies with locally manufactured steel pipe, protective pipe coating and other pipeline products. Dura-Bond manufactures and coats large diameter steel pipe at modern facilities in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region. The company fabricates complex steel structures, piling, wale systems, tie back systems, soundwalls, retaining walls, railing systems and other marine applications. Dura-Bond's convenient locations reduce transportation expenses and provide just-in-time deliveries of pre-staged pipe and pipeline products. For more information about Dura-Bond, visit the company's website at www.dura-bond.com 

About Duke Energy
Duke Energy is the largest electric power holding company in the United States with approximately $115 billion in total assets. Its regulated utility operations serve approximately 7.2 million electric customers located in six states in the Southeast and Midwest. Its commercial power and international energy business segments own and operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing portfolio of renewable energy assets in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com.

About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.

About AGL Resources
AGL Resources is an Atlanta-based energy services holding company with operations in natural gas distribution, retail operations, wholesale services and midstream operations. AGL Resources serves approximately 4.5 million utility customers through its regulated distribution subsidiaries in seven states. The company also serves approximately 630,000 retail energy customers and approximately 1.2 million customer service contracts through its SouthStar Energy Services joint venture and Pivotal Home Solutions, which market natural gas and related home services. Other non-utility businesses include asset management for natural gas wholesale customers through Sequent Energy Management and ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. AGL Resources is a member of the S&P 500 Index. For more information, visit www.aglresources.com.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information." Examples include information as to our expectations, beliefs, plans, goals, objectives and future financial or other performance or assumptions concerning matters discussed in this release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements may accompany the statements themselves. In addition, our business is influenced by many factors that are difficult to predict, involve uncertainties that may materially affect actual results and are often beyond our ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market conditions, access to and costs of capital, the receipt of regulatory approvals for, and timing of, planned projects and compliance with conditions associated with such regulatory approvals, and the ability to complete planned construction or expansion projects within the terms and timeframes initially anticipated. We have identified and will in the future identify a number of these factors in our SEC Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We refer you to those discussions for further information. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made.

SOURCE Dominion

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