FERC on Wednesday issued a certificate approving Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co.’s 2017 Expansion Project to upgrade its system in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

With the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate in hand, Eastern Shore, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corp., can move forward with plans to add 61,162 Dth/d of incremental firm transportation to its three delivery zones from interconnects with Texas Eastern Transmission Co. LP (Tetco) and the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) in Pennsylvania.

The additional capacity is subscribed under 15-year binding precedent agreements with Chesapeake Utilities Corp.-Delaware, Chesapeake Utilities Corp.-Maryland, Delaware City Refining Co. LLC, Delmarva Power and Light, Sandpiper Energy and Easton Utilities.

The expansion, estimated to cost around $99 million, includes roughly 23 miles of pipeline looping in Chester County, PA, Cecil County, MD, and Delaware’s New Castle and Sussex counties; a 16.9-mile mainline extension in Sussex County; a 3,750 compressor unit at the existing Daleville Compressor Station in Chester County; upgrades to the existing Honey Brook Meter and Regulator Station in Lancaster County, PA; and two pressure control stations in Sussex County.

Eastern Shore operates a roughly 500-mile pipeline system that interconnects in Pennsylvania with Transco, Tetco and Columbia Gas Transmission LLC and extends through Delaware and into Maryland.

Eastern Shore applied for a FERC certificate for the expansion project in January, requesting approval by May in order to target a Nov. 1 in-service date. The project received a favorable environmental assessment in May.

Beginning in February, FERC spent six months this year without a quorum of three sitting commissioners needed to vote on pipeline certificates, regaining its quorum in August.