Rocky Mount gets more than $5M to replace aging natural gas pipes

• William F. West Staff Writer
• Apr 4, 2024

A federal grant for more than $5 million was awarded Wednesday to the city of Rocky Mount so the municipality’s Energy Resources Division can replace a total of about 10 miles of aging natural gas pipeline infrastructure and greatly reduce the potential for leaks and work-related injuries.

The plan calls for focusing on about 7½ miles of main behind the Westridge shopping center in the Sunset Avenue area in the northwestern part of the city. The plan also includes focusing on about 2½ miles of main in the western part of the downtown area.

Additionally, the funding — totaling $5,428,269 for the city of Rocky Mount — is going to accelerate the upgrading of such infrastructure from a current 20-year improvement plan to 39 months.

The grant was announced at a news conference in the City Council Chamber at City Hall. A Biden administration official, the region’s congressional representative, the city’s No. 2 elected official and the city’s chief utilities official were among those who spoke.

The news conference included announcing the city of Wilson received a federal grant of more than $3 million so Wilson Energy can make Wilson’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure safer.

“This is huge,” U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-1st District, said at the news conference.

“Today, we’re not just talking about funding,” Davis said. “We’re talking about investing — investing in the safety and well-being of our communities. And what a better place to be than right here in Rocky Mount today.”

Davis, who is in his first two-year term in Congress, is up for re-election on Nov. 5 for the right to continue representing a district that includes the Twin Counties, Wilson County and 18 more counties in the eastern part of the state as well as a small portion of Granville County.

Davis said that as he has traveled to the counties throughout the district, young people overwhelmingly have said they just want a shot at a good paying job.

“Well, this is part of it, my friends,” Davis said. “This isn’t just about fixing pipes. It’s about investing in our future — and we can’t give up on living the American dream right here in eastern North Carolina.”

A federal fact sheet handed out after the news conference said that the grant for Rocky Mount is going to result in the creation of 53 jobs.

Davis touted the environmental and economic impact of the grant at the news conference.

“It’s about ensuring our communities have access to reliable, affordable energy while protecting public health and the environment,” he said. “And it’s about creating opportunities for economic growth and prosperity across the east.”

The funding is coming via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law successfully advocated by the White House. The law included providing for spending to modernize municipal and community owned high-risk natural gas distribution pipes, as well as equipment to detect and lessen leaks.

The announcement Wednesday was made by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It is responsible for carrying out a national program to ensure the safe, reliable and environmentally-sound operation of the nation’s natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline transportation system.

During the news conference, Rocky Mount Mayor Pro Tempore Lige Daughtridge, who was representing the city, said that he believes the funding for Rocky Mount is instrumental in expediting the infrastructure upgrades that are most vitally needed.

Daughtridge also called speeding up the improvement plan from two decades to three years and three months “amazing” and “incredible.”

Daughtridge, who was elected to the City Council in 2019, has while in office included emphasizing concerns about the condition of the municipality’s infrastructure.

During the news conference, City Energy Resources Director Chris Beschler said that the federal funding is “so big” for his division and the city.

“Thanks is certainly not even enough words to say how grateful we are for this grant,” Beschler said.

Beschler also expressed appreciation to Bradley Walters, who is the operations manager for natural gas, to Rob Pate, who is the distribution manager for natural gas, and to Kim Weaver, who is a consultant with Magnolia River, for their roles in the city receiving the grant.

Magnolia River is a national provider of technology enabled professional and field services to major utilities in the natural gas, electric and water markets.

Beschler said that he believes the grant not only is going to help infrastructure but is going to help the economy by bringing good-paying construction jobs and good-paying construction support jobs while also helping the environment.

Tristan Brown, who is the deputy director of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, spoke earlier in the news conference.

“We’re here today because for over a century, communities like this have banded together to make investments in infrastructure that improved their lives,” Brown said.

“But over the decades, some of this infrastructure, such as the pipes that bring the energy and heat to … our homes, have begun to degrade and leak and pose a higher risk to us, to our businesses and to the community and to our workers,” he said.

Brown said that when he took office in January 2021 just after President Biden took office, both the White House and his boss, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, wanted to know what could be done beyond what was already being done to improve the nation’s energy systems.

Brown said that top safety experts and those who work to maintain the pipeline systems were asked what in this infrastructure program could be done to help address the aging natural gas infrastructure in the nation.

“And so, with that, we came to the White House with a proposal to create this grant program that we are here to announce the next round of funding for,” he said.

More specifically, he said that Wednesday marked day one in announcing such grants totaling $400 million in 26 states for 130 projects.

“This is the first one this year that we’re announcing,” he said.