Harrison County

The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project is a natural gas pipeline that would span approximately 303 miles from the north of West Virginia to the south of Virginia. In West Virginia, it would pass through eleven counties – Wetzel, Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Braxton, Webster, Nicholas, Greenbrier, Fayette, Summers, and Monroe. The following describes the benefits to West Virginia and Harrison County due to construction spending, ad valorem taxes, and direct use of natural gas. Full reports and maps can be downloaded below and for more information, please visit our FAQ’s page.

Construction Benefits
The MVP project developers expected to spend over $811million on West Virginia-based labor, goods, and services from 2015 to 2018 to support construction of the project. This direct spending would add $594 million in cumulative gross regional product to West Virginia during that period and up to 4,500 jobs in 2017 and 2018 during the peak of construction. With its established manufacturing base, Harrison County could contribute labor and other resources to the construction effort.

Pipeline Operation Benefits
Ongoing operation of the pipeline would support a total of 54 jobs across the state with average annual wages and benefits of $65,000.

Ad Valorem Tax Benefits
The MVP project is expected to generate $4.8 million in annual county ad valorem taxes (property taxes) once the pipeline is in service.

Direct-Use Benefits
Residential, Commercial, and Municipal
Almost 80% of households in Harrison County use natural gas as their primary source for home heating. The MVP project could help provide additional supplies to service the residential sector along with the commercial and municipal sectors. As planned, the MVP route would intersect the Dominion Transmission pipelines on the west side of the county.

Manufacturing
While small relative to other sectors in the county, the manufacturing sector plays a significant role in the local economy. It employs around 2,100 people or 6% of the workforce, and employee wages in the sector average $58,000 annually, which is 35% more than the average across all sectors. Major employers include Aurora Flight Services, Bombardier, EuropTec, Graftech, and Pratt & Whitney. 

Providing additional supply to county manufacturers via MVP would help ensure reliable access to a low-cost fuel source. Increased supply also would provide opportunities for manufacturing expansions.

Transportation
Fuel switching in municipal and private vehicle fleets presents a sizable savings opportunity. There are estimated to be approximately 320 school buses, other school vehicles, solid waste disposal trucks, and county vehicles, which if converted from gasoline and diesel, would yield approximately $260,000 in annual savings.