EQT Boss Says Mountain Valley Pipeline Will Enable AI Power Boom

(Bloomberg) -- The controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline will help meet the burst in power demand from artificial intelligence, according to the largest US natural gas producer.

“MVP is an incredibly important piece of infrastructure,” EQT Corporation Chief Executive Officer Toby Rice said on a call Monday (March 11) to discuss the company’s acquisition of Equitrans Midstream Corporation, which owns the Mountain Valley gas project.

A boost in power demand from AI data centers is taking place in the southeastern market, Rice said, which the gas pipeline is set to serve once it’s completed in the second quarter. It will take gas from the land-locked Marcellus shale basin in Appalachia — the biggest US source of the fuel — to markets in the Southeast and, potentially, to liquefied natural gas export terminals on the Gulf Coast.