Tax payments to Suffolk from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline could top a total of $6.6 million in the 10 years following the start of construction, according to an estimate prepared by Dominion, one of the partners in the pipeline project.

Those payments would be personal property tax on the 27.4 miles of pipe laid in the ground, said Jim Norvelle of Dominion.

“The local benefits of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline for the host communities — including new property taxes paid by the pipeline — will be very real and very significant,” Dominion Energy President Diane Leopold stated in a press release. “At a time when many local governments are challenged to fund schools and provide other essential services, this new revenue can make a big difference.”

Total tax payments in all localities affected by the pipeline are expected to be about $25 million a year, according to the press release.

That figure also includes estimated property taxes on compressor stations and other facilities in localities that are expected to receive one. No such facility is planned for Suffolk.

“These property tax benefits are in addition to the cleaner air, the thousands of jobs it takes to build a project of this magnitude and the other significant economic growth created by the pipeline,” Leopold said.

The pipeline is expected to support about 2,900 annual jobs in the region from 2014 to 2019, according to the release.

Dominion will build and operate the natural gas pipeline pending regulatory approval for a four-member joint venture that includes Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources.

The 550-mile-long, $4.5-billion project is needed to ensure customer demand is met, according to the companies.

The gas will be coming from the Marcellus shale gas fields in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The project is expected to run from Harrison County, W.Va., to Robeson County, N.C., with a spur coming east from the Virginia/North Carolina state line through Hampton Roads.

Before construction can begin, federal regulators must approve the project, and surveying must be completed. Construction is planned to begin in 2016, with the pipeline projected to be in service by late 2018.

The next round of open houses regarding the pipeline will include one on Jan. 12 at Jolliff Middle School in Chesapeake.

More information, including the time of the open house when it is announced, is available at www.dom.com/acpipeline.