Governor Larry Hogan Joins Dominion Executives to Commemorate 20-Year LNG Agreement With Japan

Press Release

Governor Larry Hogan joined executives from Dominion, one of the largest energy companies in the United States, to commemorate a 20-year agreement under which Dominion will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Cove Point facility in Calvert County for export to Asian customers, including three major Japanese energy companies -- Sumitomo Corp., Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., and the Kansai Electric Power Co. The agreement will bring substantial economic benefits to Maryland, including thousands of skilled construction jobs, 75 permanent jobs, and an additional $40 million in annual tax revenue to Calvert County.

"The Cove Point project brings tremendous economic benefits to Maryland and will help secure Japan's energy future in the wake of the Fukushima accident by delivering stable and competitive LNG to Japan for 20 years," said Governor Hogan. "I am very proud to join Dominion Energy President Diane Leopold and her leadership team to celebrate this historic agreement, which is one of the largest private investments ever in Maryland."

"We are extremely pleased to join with Governor Hogan in celebrating this landmark agreement," said Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy, the company business unit responsible for Cove Point. "This project ‒ with its significant economic, environmental, and international relations benefits -‒ would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of many state, local, and federal government officials and staff members. We look forward to continuing to be an active and valued corporate citizen of Maryland and Calvert County."

Earlier this year, Governor Hogan joined Japanese ambassador to the United States Kenichiro Sasae for a ceremony for Dominion's Cove Point LNG liquefaction project, which is projected to cost between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion. Construction on the project began in October 2014 and is expected to be complete in late 2017. In addition to producing LNG for the Japanese companies, Dominion also has an agreement with GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC, a wholly owned indirect U.S. subsidiary of GAIL (India) Limited, one of the largest natural gas processing and distributing companies in India.

In addition to the economic benefits from this project, LNG produced by Cove Point can reduce global greenhouse emissions by millions of tons a year by replacing coal as the fuel for electricity generation. When the Cove Point project is completed, the LNG shipments are projected to reduce the U.S. trade imbalance by at least $2.8 billion, with possibly as much as $7.1 billion annually.

Another major energy project being developed by Maryland-based Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) and its Japanese partners, Marubeni Corp and Toyota Tsusho, is also being built in Southern Maryland. When completed, the CPV St. Charles Energy Center in Waldorf will be a state-of-the-art 725-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric power generating facility. It will generate enough electricity to power more than 650,000 homes and will be one of the cleanest natural gas facilities ever built in the area.

Maryland has long maintained business and economic ties with Japan. In 2014, Japan was Maryland's 10th-largest export market with $440 million in goods and services, and was the state's fourth-largest import market, with more than $2.2 billion. There are 40 Japanese-headquartered companies in Maryland, the majority of which are in the life sciences industry. More than 25 Maryland-based companies have locations in Japan.

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