FERC on Monday granted Guardian Pipeline LLC’s request to commence service on the Guardian Expansion and Extension Project (G-II) in eastern Wisconsin.

The Guardian G-II expansion consists of 119.2 miles of 12-inch and 30-inch diameter pipeline extending from Ixonia, WI, to Green Bay, WI, and 78,000 hp of compression and associated facilities. The $261 million project is expected to result in an incremental 537,200 Dth/d of firm capacity on Guardian’s existing G-1 system from Joliet, IL, to Ixonia, and 437,200 Dth/d of new firm capacity from Ixonia to Green Bay.

The approval came a little over a year after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a certificate for Guardian Pipeline to expand its system to meet growing demand in the region, which currently is served by only the constrained ANR Pipeline (see Daily GPI, Dec. 18, 2007). Guardian had initially expected to place the facilities in service on Nov. 1, 2008.

Guardian, which is owned by ONEOK Partners LP, has executed precedent agreements with three local distribution companies for an initial term of 15 years, including Wisconsin Gas LLC for 90,105 Dth/d, Wisconsin Electric Power Co. for 201,656 Dth/d and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. for 205,2455 Dth/d.

Natural gas consumption in Wisconsin has increased by more than 25% to nearly 400 Bcf annually since 1990; the number of commercial and industrial gas customers rose by approximately 40% between 1990 and 2004; and the combined gas use of commercial and industrial sectors, excluding electric generation, increased by more than 18% between 1990 and 2004, Guardian said.

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