The New York State Reliability Council filed comments with FERClast week saying the proposed Millennium Pipeline’s current routeposes severe problems to the state’s electrical grid. Columbia GasTransmission, the main sponsor of the project, said it would workwith the council to resolve the situation.

The issues arise in Millennium’s desire to use the same corridoras the Con Edison Millwood-Sprain Brook 345 kV transmission lines.The agency told FERC this corridor “happens to be the mostimportant and most critical electric power interconnection betweenthe major load center of New York City and the rest of the easterninterconnection.” It has six 345 kV high voltage transmission linesand a total thermal capacity of 5,000 MW.

The council said that a sudden loss of these circuits, caused bya gas explosion, would pose major problems for New York Cityelectrical customers, such as a blackout. It also would endangerlarge generating plants in southeastern New York and Con Edison’sIndian Point nuclear facility.

“We recognize that a gas explosion is an event which has verylow probability,” the council told FERC. “However, the potentialconsequences of such an event could be catastrophic. In our view,the health and safety of the citizens of New York would beunacceptably jeopardized.”

The filing of these comments, however, was not an outrightopposition to the project, the council added in the statement. Itjust disapproves of the current path. It is the second time a NewYork governmental body opposed the pipeline’s route. In January,the New York Public Service Commission asked FERC not to award theproposed Millennium Pipeline final environmental clearance until analternate route to an electric transmission right-of-way (ROW) inWestchester County is found for the project.

“The Reliability Council’s objections mirror those of the NYPSCvery closely,” said Brent Archer, a Columbia spokesman. “It isimportant to note that the Millennium project has already undergone20 to 25 route alterations as a result of objections frominterested parties. In the case of each objection, we have sat downand listened to the issues, and then acted in the best interests ofeveryone concerned. With these comments about the ConEdisoncorridor, we will follow this same strategy.” He added that thenext probable step would be to form a working group that includedrepresentatives from all the parties involved in the ConEdisoncorridor objections.

The $650 million Millennium Pipeline project was already insevere danger before this filing. Its main sponsor, Columbia EnergyGroup, was recently purchased by NiSource. Gary Neale, NiSourceCEO, has indicated that he favors a land-based route from Chicagoto the Northeast utilizing NiSource’s Crossroads pipeline ratherthan the Lake Erie crossing proposed by Millennium (see NGI, March6).

Archer, however, said “we haven’t changed our approach at alleven with all the merger issues. The people working on theMillennium project have maintained the same level of intensity asthey had before we joined NiSource. We will continue to work hardon the project and don’t expect to hear otherwise.”

The 442-mile Millennium Pipeline originally was scheduled forconstruction starting in 1999, with the balance of the project tobe completed in 2000. However, the project never received apreliminary determination on non-environmental grounds from FERCand still has not received final environmental clearance. The linewas expected to begin transporting 714 MMcf/d of gas from Chicagoto the Northeast starting Nov. 1.

Columbia Gas Transmission is the project’s developer, largestinterest holder, and prospective operator. Other sponsors areTransCanada, Westcoast and MCN Energy.

John Norris

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