The company that owns one of the largest natural gas pipeline networks in the Northwest wants to make it even bigger. Williams, an Oklahoma-based energy company that owns the 4,000-mile Northwest Pipeline system carrying fracked gas from Rocky Mountain states into Idaho, Washington and Oregon, has filed federal paperwork for a new 88-mile pipeline called the Silver Spur, with a proposed completion date of 2030.
Williams submitted the Silver Spur application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in September, according to Oregon Capital Chronicle, as reported by The Portland Tribune. The proposed line would connect two existing gas transmission lines in Idaho and Nevada and, if approved, could carry up to 275 million additional standard cubic feet of natural gas per day into the region. The project still faces review from FERC and other federal agencies, along with public meetings and comment periods before any shovel goes into the ground.
Silver Spur is just one piece of a much bigger ambition. The pipeline is part of Williams' proposed Rockies Columbia Connector system, which would also include a nearly 160-mile expansion along the Washington side of the Columbia River and a separate 137-mile pipeline called Valley Trail, running through Grant County, eastern Washington, and Quincy. Together, the full expansion could bring nearly 1 billion cubic feet of additional natural gas to the region each day — though Williams has not yet filed permits for either the Rockies Columbia Connector or Valley Trail pipelines, meaning their routes, timelines and approval status remain unsettled. Williams executives described the combined projects as one of the Northwest's largest gas pipeline expansions in more than two decades during a March earnings call.
Data Centers Driving the Demand Debate
Environmental advocates say the surge in regional electricity demand behind projects like Silver Spur is being driven almost entirely by data centers. An ECOnorthwest analysis cited by Oregon Capital Chronicle found that data centers are already responsible for nearly one-quarter of all power consumption in Oregon. Separate reporting from OPB found that data centers accounted for about 23% of Oregon's electricity sales in 2025, with researchers expecting that figure to climb to 31% or 32% by 2030.
The pressure extends beyond Oregon's borders. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has estimated the region could need between 40% and 100% more electricity over the next two decades, a projection detailed by The Spokesman-Review. The council's draft power plan calls for 9 gigawatts of new renewable energy, 5 gigawatts of battery storage and 2 gigawatts of natural-gas generation over the next six years. Electric utilities in Washington and Oregon are already turning to gas to meet that rapidly growing demand, according to a separate Oregon Capital Chronicle report from earlier this year.
Environmental Groups Push Back
A Hood River-based nonprofit environmental organization has led a coalition of 20 organizations calling on Washington and Oregon leaders to block fossil fuel expansion this year. Columbia Riverkeeper and the Sightline Institute found that a growing number of Northwest utilities are either investing in new gas-powered energy infrastructure or buying gas-powered energy from other states to serve demand that is largely coming from data centers, per the same Oregon Capital Chronicle reporting. Williams spokespersons did not respond to the Capital Chronicle's questions about who the primary buyers for the proposed gas expansion would be.
Oregon is separately pursuing policies and pollution caps meant to reduce gas consumption and slow climate change, even as the state's power demands from data centers continue to climb. That tension — between efforts to cut emissions and the infrastructure utilities say they need to keep the lights on — sits at the center of the debate over projects like Silver Spur.
Echoes of a Past Pipeline Fight
Williams' proposal invites comparison to a fight that played out just a few years earlier. In 2023, federal regulators unanimously approved an expansion of TC Energy's Gas Transmission Northwest Express pipeline, allowing it to add 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day through Oregon, Idaho, Washington and northern California, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. TC Energy had requested a $335 million investment to fund that expansion, and a joint filing opposing the project by the Oregon, Washington and California attorneys general estimated it would produce an additional 3.47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually for at least 30 years. The Silver Spur expansion alone would carry significantly more capacity than that earlier approved project.
That 2023 expansion drew opposition at the time from Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as from Jay Inslee while he served as Washington's governor. Wyden was unable to comment on the new Silver Spur proposal Wednesday, as he was in Bend following the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting there. A spokesperson for Merkley did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
Under federal law, companies seeking to build interstate natural gas pipelines like Silver Spur must first obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC, according to a Congressional Research Service explainer. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 designates FERC as the lead agency for coordinating federal authorizations and environmental review of pipeline applications, meaning Silver Spur's fate will likely hinge on a process that stretches well beyond Williams' own 2030 target.
