The storage-poor Pacific Northwest could get some needed reliefin the near future. Avista Corp. and PG&E GasTransmission-Northwest (PG&E GT-NW) have joined forces toinvestigate building another underground natural gas storagefacility in an aquifer in eastern Washington near theinterconnection of PG&E GT-NW and Williams (NorthwestPipeline).

Avista’s Patricia Grable said it was premature to speculate onwhat the ultimate deliverability or capacity of new project couldbe. But Avista Corp. CEO Tom Matthews said it could prove “ofsimilar value [as Jackson Prairie] to our company in the future.”

Avista is part owner with Williams of the Jackson Prairieunderground storage facility in western Washington, which currentlyis undergoing an expansion to 18 Bcf working gas capacity from 15Bcf and to 850 MMcf/d of deliverability from 550 MMcf/d. The onlyother storage facility in the region is Northwest Natural Gas’sMist (OR) facility 50 miles northwest of Portland. Mist also isrolling out the first part of an eight-year, $122 million expansionthis year. The first phase will increase working gas capacity atMist to 8.5 Bcf from only 6.5 Bcf and will raise deliverability to125 MMcf/d from 80 MMcf/d.

New demand records set this winter in Northern Californiademonstrate the need for greater access to gas supply, according toPG&E GT-NW President Thomas B. King. Pacific Northwest gasdemand growth, which has been averaging a strong 5%/year throughoutmost of the 1990s, isn’t showing signs of letting up. “We areexploring various alternatives to best meet the need for additionalnatural gas supply in the Pacific Northwest, including both gasstorage and new pipeline capacity,” said King. “This currentagreement will help us determine the economic viability of newstorage development in areas accessible to both Northwest andCalifornia markets.”

Avista and PG&E GT plan to begin drilling and geologictesting of the site during the second quarter. “The testing programwill provide the additional information we need to determinewhether it is in the economic interest of our company and itsshareholders to continue to participate in the development of thissite over the next three to four years,” said Matthews.

PG&E GT and Avista also may face some additional storagecompetition in the region in the near future. Western HubProperties LLC (WHP), which is developing the Lodi Gas Storageproject near Lodi, CA, announced last fall that it too wassearching for locations to develop up to four newhigh-deliverability gas storage hubs in the Pacific Northwest overthe next five years. The company still has not announced any ofthose locations, however.

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