Note:  This quick expansion was the result of FERC's expedited permitting process.  Lorna  

 

PG&E Gas Transmission Puts New Line in Service, Files 2003 Expansion 
PG&E Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) already has started deliveries through a 21-mile section of its 2002 mainline expansion project, and is making significant progress on proposed future expansions. The new 21-mile pipe section put into service last Friday increases the company's ability to deliver natural gas to western markets by 42,000 Dth/d a year earlier than expected and in time for the 2001 winter heating season. 
"We applaud the efforts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expedite the permitting process so that some of this new capacity could be in service before the winter heating season," said Thomas B. King, president and COO of PG&E National Energy Group's West Region, which includes subsidiary GTN. 
The new 42-inch pipe is in Spokane County, WA, and Kootenai County, ID, and represents the first installation of a third pipe, known as the C line, in GTN's mainline right of way. The new pipe became operational last Friday. GTN's 2002 Expansion Project also will include new 19,500 hp compressor units at five existing stations on the GTN mainline, which will increases its capacity by 220,000 Dth/d, mainly to serve power generation projects planned by Newport Northwest LLC and Calpine. Newport is developing a 1,300 MW generating plant near Wallula, WA, and two plants of similar size at other locations in the Pacific Northwest. Calpine has several generating projects in construction or development in the Pacific Northwest and California. 
GTN also has filed with FERC for a certificate to build a second expansion for service commencing in the fall of 2003. The proposed 2003 expansion project would add another 143,000 Dth/d beginning in the fall of 2003, plus an additional 20,000 Dth/d of winter-only service. The 2003 expansion project calls for an additional 53 miles of new C line pipe, plus the installation of one 19,500 hp compressor unit on the mainline system. Combined, the 2002 and 2003 expansion projects would put the total GTN capacity at nearly 3,100,000 Dth/d. 
"The 2002 and 2003 expansion projects will provide much-needed natural gas transmission capacity to supply electric generation projects already in construction or advanced development in California and the Pacific Northwest," King said. 
In addition, GTN is exploring the possibility of building a pipeline lateral from its mainline system near Spokane, WA, to the Interstate 5 corridor near Seattle/Tacoma. The company has been in discussions with potential shippers about the Washington lateral project since an open season was completed in June 2001.  "There is clearly market interest in this project," King said. "We have successfully completed much of the initial feasibility studies for the Washington lateral project and are ready to move to development when the market indicates it is ready." 
The GTN system went into service on Dec. 2, 1961, with initial capacity of 580,000 Dth/d. The original system, inaugurated as Pacific Gas Transmission Co., consisted of one 36-inch pipe, the A line. The mainline system grew over the last four decades, first through the addition of a second pipe, the B line, measuring 42-inches, and now with the beginning of the C line. The system includes 1,356 miles of pipeline along a 612-mile route which begins at the Idaho/British Columbia border, traversing through northern Idaho, southeastern Washington and central Oregon, and terminates at the Oregon/California border, where it interconnects with the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pipeline system and Tuscarora Gas Transmission.