Almost four years after the project was proposed, 142-mile interstate Guardian Pipeline system started operations on Dec. 7, transporting gas to markets in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin from interconnections with ANR Pipeline, Alliance, Northern Border, Midwestern Gas Transmission and Natural Gas Pipeline of America at the Chicago Hub near Joliet, IL. (see NGI, March 15, 1999).

The pipeline consists of 22,225 horsepower of compression and 142 miles of 36-inch diameter pipe extending from Joliet to the Ixonia, WI., area. It has the capacity to transport more than 750 MMcf/d of gas with the option of being expanded to transport more than 1.1 Bcf/d. Guardian has firm agreements with We Energies and others to transport 662 MMcf/d, or 88% of its capacity.

Although We Energies had already received approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin regarding a 38-mile lateral pipeline connecting Guardian to its system, the lateral has seen its share of controversy. We Energies halted construction of the lateral earlier in the year to resolve some permit and land acquisition issues (see NGI, April 29). We Energies said it is now scheduled to begin construction on the lateral in the spring of 2003.

Certificated by FERC in March 2001, the Guardian Pipeline introduces pipeline-on-pipeline competition into a region that has long been dominated by ANR Pipeline. ANR was at the forefront of the efforts to defeat the Guardian project, while a coalition of Wisconsin businesses and then-Gov. Tommy Thompson lobbied in support of the line (see NGI, Jan. 24, 2000).

The sponsors of the $224 million Guardian Pipeline include: Dearborn, MI-based CMS Energy; Milwaukee, WI-based We Energies; and St. Paul, MN-based Viking Gas Transmission, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc.

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