North Carolina environmental regulators issued a water permit on Jan. 26 for Dominion Energy Inc.'s (NYSE: D) $5 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina.

Atlantic Coast is designed to carry about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas about 550 miles (885 km) from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to customers in Virginia and North Carolina. One Bcf/d of gas is enough to fuel about 5 million U.S. homes, according to the Reuters report.

Atlantic Coast is a partnership between units of Virginia energy company Dominion, North Carolina energy company Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) and Georgia energy company Southern Co. (NYSE: SO). Dominion will build and operate the pipe.

To feed gas into Atlantic Coast and other pipelines, Dominion also wants to build the 38-mile Supply Header project in West Virginia and Pennsylvania at a cost of about $500 million. The companies have said they plan to complete the Atlantic Coast/Supply Header project in late 2019.

Atlantic Coast must still obtain an air permit from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for a compressor, stormwater permits and a water permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among other approvals before it can start major construction.

The companies seeking to build the pipe said last week that they planned to start cutting trees along the route in Virginia and West Virginia after receiving authorization from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Sierra Club, an environmental group opposed to the pipeline, said in a statement Jan. 26 that they will continue to fight the project.