Williams said two recently completed expansions helped Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) deliver a record amount of natural gas through its interstate pipeline system one day last week, meeting demand following a cold snap along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

According to Williams, the Transco system delivered a record-breaking 12.6 million Dth — enough gas to heat about 50 million U.S. homes — on Jan. 7 for its Zones 4-6 market area, a region that stretches from Mississippi to New York City. The new mark eclipses the previous high of 11.9 million Dth set one year earlier to the day, Jan. 7, 2014. Transco also set a record for three-day market area delivery from Jan. 7-9, averaging 11.9 million Dth per day.

The company added that total peak-day deliveries across the entire Transco system totaled 13.4 million Dth on Jan. 7, and said it expects deliveries to increase substantially in the coming years as additional planned Transco projects go into service.

Two expansions of Transco, totaling 315,000 Dth/d of capacity, were placed into service on Dec. 1 and contributed to the volume record in early January. The expansions included modifications to the Transco mainline as part of the Virginia Southside Expansion and part of the Northeast Connector (see Daily GPI, Dec. 5, 2014). The expansions added 250,000 Dth/d and 65,000 Dth/d of capacity, respectively.

“We fully expected to hit another record this year because natural gas demand for home heating and power generation continues to grow in new markets,” said Frank Ferazzi, vice president and general manager of the Transco pipeline. “In anticipation of this steady demand growth, we are continually expanding our Transco system to serve the fastest growing markets in the country in the Northeast and along the Eastern Seaboard.”

Williams said it has placed 22 projects on the Transco system into service since 2003. Combined, those projects have increased system capacity by 3.5 Bcf/d, or about 53%. The company plans to spend an additional $4.4 billion on 12 growth projects in seven eastern states, including the Hillabee Expansion in Alabama and the Garden State Expansion in New Jersey (see Daily GPI, Nov. 19, 2014; July 30, 2014). The projects are expected to be placed into service between 2015 and 2017.

Transco’s pipeline system is about 10,200 miles in length and transports gas to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States. Transco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners LP, of which Williams owns a controlling interest and is the general partner.