ANR Pipeline unloaded an arsenal at the Guardian Pipelineproject yesterday in a protest and request for dismissal filed withFERC. If Guardian is built, it would be a bypass of ANR, resultingin 650 MDth/d of firm transportation capacity being turned back tothe Coastal subsidiary. That turnback capacity would mean a loss of$54 million in annual revenue, ANR said, of which $26 million couldbe avoided if Wisconsin Gas accepted a competing proposal presentedby ANR. ANR is requesting it be allowed to charge Wisconsin Gas anexit fee if Guardian is approved.

ANR claims Wisconsin Gas’ ratepayers will be paying between $175million and $242 million more over the course of the 10-yearagreement with Guardian than they would have to pay ANR for similarservice.

Foremost among its many arguments against the Guardian project,however, is the charge that it should be dismissed onjurisdictional grounds. ANR said Guardian, which would bring gasfrom the Joliet Hub in Illinois 149 miles north to a connection atIxonia, WI, with a proposed 38-mile lateral off of Wisconsin Gas’ssystem, should include the proposed Wisconsin Gas lateral. Thelateral is a “critical piece” of the interstate pipeline. ANRclaims Guardian sponsors, Wisconsin Gas parent WICOR and NorthernStates Power subsidiary Viking Gas Transmission, are attempting to”hide the improper cross-subsidies that are designed to supportthis uneconomic project.” Guardian is “anticompetitive,” accordingto ANR, because it uses Wisconsin Gas’ monopoly power overdistribution to force its ratepayers to pay for a large portion(the lateral) of the proposed project.

ANR said Commission precedent requires the two pipeline segments tobe treated as one system. Even if the Wisconsin lateral is considereda separate pipeline, “standing alone it is an interstate natural gastransmission pipeline that is not exempt from this Commission’sjurisdiction.” ANR has filed a motion for summary disposition anddismissal of the application because it claims the application isdeficient for not including the lateral. Guardian filed itsapplication late last month (see Daily GPI, Dec. 2).

The Guardian project is designed in part to serve growing gasdemand for power generation in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, ANR and PeoplesGas are planning to build a pipeline project of their own intoWisconsin from Indiana. Their line would extend underneath LakeMichigan. ANR claims the proposed 130-mile line would not compete withGuardian. The ANR-Peoples project is expected to cost $300 million andwould carry up to 1.4 Bcf/d of gas (see Daily GPI, Dec. 7). Following environmental review,the ANR-Peoples partnership plans to file an application for theproject with the FERC late next year.

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