Over 12 years ago, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D-W.Va.) and Virginia Governor Terry MacAuliffe (D-VA) came together to endorse the Mountain Valley Pipeline. It connected natural gas sources in the Mountain State to the Old Dominion, running from north to south through central West Virginia, then turning east after crossing into Virginia.
The 303-mile line has a daily transmission capacity of two billion cubic feet. That translates to about two trillion British Thermal Units of energy, enough to heat 28,500 homes for a year.
Said then-Governor MacAuliffe, who worked as a confidant to President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, “to compete globally to attract businesses and create jobs, Virginia must have world-class energy infrastructure that provides abundant access to low-cost energy sources.” He noted that natural gas represented a cleaner form of energy use and would contribute to reducing the environmental impact of power generation.
“West Virginia continues to be one of our nation’s energy leaders,” noted then-Governor Tomblin, who then added “these investments have the potential to create good-paying jobs and by keeping key byproducts in our state, we have the opportunity to rejuvenate our manufacturing sector and create promising opportunities for future generations.”
A release from Mountain Valley Pipeline in 2014 shared that the companies involved expected it to come into service in 2018. Despite considerable protest and lengthy court battles launched by environmental activists that delayed approval, the pipeline opened service in 2024. Some at the time opposed the use of shale gas while others noted the potential environmental impact of extending natural gas infrastructure.
The approval process started with EQT, Next Era, and other stakeholders holding community open houses and used local input to draw the final route.
Late last month, West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack released a report sharing the positive economic and tax revenue impacts of the MVP since its opening in 2024.
West Virginia Treasury strategic analyst Mark Muchow detailed revenue gains for both county commissions and county school systems since the opening. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC pays Class III property taxes. That refers to “all real and personal property situated outside a municipality that is not taxed in Class I (intangible personal property), Class II (owner-occupied residential property), or Class IV (property within a municipality not in Class I or II).
MVP’s property in 11 counties has been taxed “with fully assessed property tax revenues arriving in 2026-2027.” The report notes that “the property tax base associated with rural public utility properties in these 11 counties collectively grew by more than 62 percent in one year, largely due to MVP.”
Cumulative totals see county commission revenues in the 11 counties “rose by nearly $9.1 million, and total school board revenues rose by nearly $18 million.” It added that “additional property tax revenues associated with public utility property in the 11 counties collectively accounted for more than 86 percent of the total net gain in property taxes from all sources in these counties.”
Harrison County, for example, saw a Class III public utility valuation increase of almost $178 million. That represents the increase in related taxable property values. Class III public utility tax base growth in Harrison rose by a little less than 30 percent.
The county commission regular revenues came in at $969,365 and county excess at $311,869. Harrison County Schools garnered almost $1.4 million in the regular assessment and $973,764 in the school excess.
Overall, Harrison County saw the county commission pull in $1,362,722 more for fiscal year 2027 than fiscal year 2026. Harrison County Schools saw its revenues increase by $990,846 between FY 26 and FY 27.
Muchow’s report stated, and Treasurer Pack shared, “the numbers show that large utility capital investment projects significantly affect local government financing through substantial additional property tax collections” with “the impact on the smaller rural counties is even more significant given the size of government.”
Webster County, for example, saw its public utility valuation skyrocket by over 600 percent. It saw 77 percent growth in county commission revenues between FY 26 and FY 27 and the exact same percentage growth for Webster County Schools.
The 11 counties combined saw a jump of $111,300,322 between FY 26 and FY 27.
It must be noted that these tax revenues correlate to operation of the pipeline and do not reflect direct tax revenue impact. That said, especially in counties such as Webster, economic growth unrelated to MVP could not fully account otherwise for the boost in revenues.
Treasurer Pack explained that “as local entities embrace these types of projects, it is vital that residents understand what those investments could mean for their counties.” He added that “providing clear, transparent information about increased revenues helps local officials make informed decisions and garners collective buy-in from constituents.”
