TC Energy maintaining targeted schedule, latest cost estimate for Coastal GasLink
BNN Bloomberg
TC Energy Corp. remains on track to complete the Coastal GasLink pipeline by the end of this year without another escalation in construction costs, the Calgary-based company said Friday.
The update is welcome one for TC Energy, which has been under significant scrutiny from investors and credit rating agencies for its heavy debt load as well as for the spiralling costs of the Coastal Gas Link project, a 670-km pipeline spanning northern B.C. that will carry natural gas to the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat.
The company was recently downgraded by both DBRS Morningstar and Moody's Corp., in part due to the ballooning costs of the project, which has been dogged by unexpected construction issues and rising labour costs.
Over the course of the project, the pipeline's construction has also attracted opposition and protests from environmentalists and Indigenous leaders. While many Indigenous groups along the project's pathway support the pipeline, the hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs, whose territory the pipeline crosses, do not.
