The Hugh Brinson Pipeline will span 16 Texas counties, delivering reliable fuel to data centers and electric utilities along its route while connecting producers to multiple downstream markets in Texas and Louisiana, including key export facilities on the Gulf Coast.

By strengthening grid stability and ensuring a steady, cost-competitive energy supply, the project is poised to drive economic growth across the region. From construction jobs and local tax revenue to long-term operational employment and expanded market access, the pipeline represents a significant private investment that supports both local communities and the broader Texas energy economy.

Key Economic Benefits

1. Job creation and regional spending
   • Construction phase: approximately 3,100 of direct jobs (construction crews, welders, engineering, environmental monitors) and many indirect jobs (suppliers, food/lodging, logistics).
   • Local spending multiplier: worker wages and contractor purchases boost retail, hospitality, and services in the 16 counties during construction.
   • Permanent operations and technical jobs: pipeline operators, inspectors, associated compressor stations, metering facilities, and SCADA/telemetry operations.
2. Increased tax revenues and local government funding
   • Annual ad valorem taxes, with approximately $27 million in ad valorem taxes in its first year in-service.
   • In Texas, ad valorem taxes (primarily property taxes based on the appraised value of land and buildings) are the main local funding source for a range of public services including schools, law enforcement, libraries, parks, hospitals, and more.
3. Landowner income and community payments
   • Right-of-way payments, one-time easement payments, and recurring surface use fees provide income to landowners across the route.
4. Lower energy costs and improved competitiveness for local industry
   • Stable, cost-competitive natural gas for data centers, manufacturers, and utilities reduces operating costs and makes the region more attractive to new investment.
   • Predictability of supply helps firms plan expansion and reduces exposure to fuel price spikes.
5. Attracting and retaining data centers, tech, and industry
   • Data centers require reliable, dispatchable energy and low-cost fuel for on-site generation and cooling — pipeline supply can be a decisive locational factor.
   • Cluster effects: once a few large energy-intensive customers locate, ancillary businesses (service providers, construction firms, supply chain) follow.
6. Grid stability and avoided outage costs
   • Reliable gas supply to utilities and peaker plants reduces the frequency and severity of power outages. Reduced blackout risk translates into avoided economic losses for businesses and public services.
7. Market access, exports, and balance-of-trade gains
   • Connecting to Gulf Coast export facilities enables producers to reach international LNG markets and supports the state’s energy export economy.
   • Access to multiple destinations in Texas and Louisiana improves market optionality and pricing for producers and shippers.
8. Improved supply diversity and energy security
   • Reduced reliance on single supply corridors lowers price volatility and increases resilience for local utilities and large users, which has an economic value (lower risk premiums).
9. Private investment and ancillary infrastructure development
   • New industrial parks, compressor stations, service yards, meter/regulation stations and road upgrades — all generate capital expenditure and ongoing business for local contractors and suppliers.

Hugh Brinson – County Tax Estimates

Environmental Benefits

1. Lower-carbon alternative
Natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, helps reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. It produces about half the carbon dioxide of coal and only a fraction of other air emissions, leading electric utilities nationwide to shift from coal to natural gas to improve air quality.

2. Reduces emissions from trucking or rail transport
Pipelines move gas continuously and efficiently. Compared with moving equivalent energy by diesel-powered trucks or trains, a pipeline generates far less CO₂ and air pollutants per unit of energy delivered.

3. Supports renewable energy integration
Gas-fired power plants can ramp up and down quickly, providing a “bridge fuel” that balances intermittent wind and solar. Reliable pipeline supply makes it easier to retire older, dirtier peaker plants that burn coal or oil.

4. Smaller Long-Term Land Footprint
Vegetation can regrow above most of the pipeline right-of-way, allowing the land to return to farming, grazing, or other uses. In comparison, utility-scale solar or wind farms may need thousands of acres of dedicated land to supply the same annual megawatt-hours.

5. Lower Habitat Fragmentation
Once a pipeline is buried, wildlife can often move freely across the corridor and vegetation can provide habitat again. In comparison to renewable energy, a solar array remains fenced and shaded for decades, creating a permanent change to the surface habitat.