Dominion Cove Point LNG

BHE GT&S has full operational control of the facility, sharing its 25% ownership with Dominion Energy (50%) and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (25%), investing through its Super Core-infrastructure fund.

On October 6, 1979, LNG vapors leaking from a pump exploded, causing 1 death, 1 critical injury, and major damage to the facility.

Both the storage and import activity are subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Natural Gas Act.

[8] On 1 April 2013, Dominion filed an application with the FERC (Docket Number CP13-113) for expansion of the Cove Point facilities for gas liquefaction and export.

The plant maintains the strictest leak detection and repair program in Maryland and Cove Point has received numerous awards for environmental stewardship.

In 2008, a large nor’easter storm created a breach of the Cove Point Marsh, a 190-acre Maryland Heritage Area, located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

The breach caused significant damage and threatened the freshwater marsh ecosystem with the intrusion of the bay's brackish water.

As a result, the parties agreed to limit the heat content of the output of the terminal to 1075 Btu per ft3 (40.05 MJ/m3) by diluting it with nitrogen gas.

Cove Point disputes these claims and argues that Washington Gas's arguments are flawed and the expansion will not cause additional leaks in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia suburbs as the area served by unblended LNG increases.

[15] In 2006, Cove Point filed a rate increase with FERC proposing to raise the prices it charges to pipelines serving customers in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland by 109 percent.