When bitter cold strains Scottsboro’s natural gas supply, one of the first places forced to find another source of fuel is not a factory.

It’s the hospital.

During periods of extremely cold weather, low pressure in Scottsboro’s natural gas system forces the hospital to switch to backup diesel fuel, Mayor Jim McCamy said.

“It’s not a good situation to be in,” McCamy told 256 Today.

It’s one of the starkest examples of a problem city leaders say is already limiting Scottsboro’s economy and could become increasingly difficult as North Alabama continues to grow.

Scottsboro has only one primary source of natural gas entering from the southern end of Jackson County, McCamy said. Another line entering the northern part of the county is already fully subscribed.

“We’re literally at the end of the line on natural gas in Jackson County,” he said.

A proposed 123-mile natural gas pipeline across North Alabama could change that.

The North Alabama Public Energy District, formed by Huntsville, Athens and Scottsboro, is studying a pipeline that would begin in northwest Lauderdale County and travel east through North Alabama before terminating near Hollywood in Jackson County, in the vicinity of the Bellefonte site.

The project remains in its early stages. The current route is a study corridor, with environmental and soil work underway to determine a final path for the buried pipeline. Around 1,000 landowners along the preliminary route have been contacted.

If ultimately built, the pipeline would provide another major source of natural gas for a region where existing capacity is becoming increasingly constrained.

For Scottsboro, McCamy said the need isn’t theoretical.

He said inadequate natural gas capacity has already prevented the city from competing for major industrial projects.

“In the last three years, Scottsboro has missed over $280 million in capital investment and over 1,200 jobs that we couldn’t get because we did not have an adequate gas supply,” McCamy said.

Existing industries can also be affected when supplies become tight. During shortages, McCamy said industrial users can be required to cut their gas consumption to preserve service for residential customers.

That means the capacity problem can affect jobs Scottsboro already has, not just prospective ones.

The proposed pipeline would provide additional supply for Scottsboro and potentially other parts of Jackson County, including Hollywood and Skyline, while opening the door to further industrial and residential growth.

“It allows for additional industrial growth as well as residential growth,” McCamy said. “Again, right now we’re at the end of the line.”

A pipeline across North Alabama

The preliminary route stretches roughly 123 miles from northwest Lauderdale County to the Hollywood area near Bellefonte. The system is being designed for capacity of about 450,000 dekatherms of natural gas.

A large natural-gas-fired power generation project would likely be needed as an anchor customer to make the pipeline economically viable. The current concept calls for an anchor using roughly half of the pipeline’s capacity, leaving the remainder available to participating utilities.

The project is still years from construction. Under the current timeline, construction could begin in the third quarter of 2030, with the pipeline entering service in late 2031.

What it means for landowners

Getting there will require crossing private property throughout North Alabama.

The current study encompasses a 200-foot-wide corridor, but the eventual permanent pipeline easement would be approximately 50 feet wide. Permanent structures could not be built over the easement, although agricultural use could continue.

McCamy acknowledged the concern for families whose farms and property could lie along the eventual route.

“I understand if you’ve got, you know, a large acreage, a large farm that’s been in the family for a couple hundred years, you really want to think about this,” he said.

But McCamy said the pipeline could also benefit agriculture, particularly poultry operations that depend on reliable energy supplies in Jackson County and potentially neighboring DeKalb County.

He sees the larger question as one of whether North Alabama can build enough energy infrastructure to keep pace with its growth.

“It impacts all of the growth in North Alabama, not just where the pipeline runs,” McCamy said.

For Scottsboro, however, the immediate argument is considerably simpler: The city says it already doesn’t have enough gas.

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