NEXUS pipelines are providing significant community benefits
SUMMIT COUNTY—It is no secret that gas pipelines benefit communities. Yet the benefits extend far beyond delivering gas and related services to residents and businesses. Nexus Gas Transmission, partnering with DTE Energy and Enbridge, is highlighting the positive results of pipeline expansion in a project known as NEXUS that is underway in Ohio. The project is expected to enter service by September.
The NEXUS project includes over 250 miles of new gas transmission pipeline. According to economic studies by Michigan State University and consultant firm Economic & Policy Resources, the construction phase of the project is likely to generate 6,800 jobs, more than $650 million in wages and $830 million in total economic activity. In its first five years of operation, NEXUS is estimated to generate a cumulative tax revenue of $412 million, of which approximately $125 million will go directly to local school districts in Ohio and Michigan.
In addition to benefiting schools along the route, the money raised will enable counties to fund other key priorities of local government, such as roads and public safety, all of which improve the quality of life for the people who live in the communities being served.
That’s not all: As a part of the company’s stakeholder engagement efforts, NEXUS partners with communities located along the pipeline route in Ohio and Michigan to support programs in education, workforce development, community vitality and environmental stewardship. “To date, NEXUS has invested over $635,000 in community grant funding,” Enbridge Stakeholder Engagement Supervisor Adam Parker told American Gas.
In addition, in 2017, NEXUS partnered with six local community colleges along the route as part of the NEXUS College Educational Scholarship Program. “Each college received a one-time donation of $50,000 that was used to support industry-related programs and scholarships or training-facility improvements,” Parker said. “We are proud to partner with local community colleges, and we value the role that they play in educating and training the labor force in the region.
“Our investments are rooted in our commitment to being a good neighbor and helping to build a strong community where we work and operate.”