NiSource Inc. on Friday said it is proceeding with its East Side Expansion project on its Columbia Gas Transmission system to carry Marcellus Shale gas to the East Coast and mid-Atlantic region.

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) said the project involves adding capacity on Columbia to connect northern Pennsylvania production to eastern markets. Negotiations for the East Side project began earlier this year (see Shale Daily, May 2).

“Our East Side Expansion is a great example of Columbia’s unparalleled ability to deliver new, affordable supplies of natural gas to growing Northeast and mid-Atlantic markets,” said NGT&S Group CEO Jimmy D. Staton.

The East Side Expansion, supported by binding precedent agreements, would provide up to 310,000 Dth/d of additional system capacity. The project calls for new pipeline capacity along an existing pipeline system, adding compression to an existing compressor station and enhancing interconnects with Millennium Pipeline at Columbia’s Wagoner metering station and with Tennessee Gas Pipeline at Milford compressor station.

NGT&S COO Joseph Shields said with contracts in place and funding approved, the company now can “shift our efforts to working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal, state and local agencies to facilitate the construction process.”

Construction is expected to begin in early 2015 for in-service late that year.