FERC has cleared Texas Eastern Transmission LP (Tetco) to start construction on the second and final phase of its Texas Eastern Appalachian Lease (TEAL) project, a Northeast expansion designed to connect with the Nexus Gas Transmission pipeline.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff on Monday issued a notice to proceed with construction on TEAL’s Phase II, approving a request Tetco had submitted last week notifying the agency that all permits had been received for the proposed facilities.

TEAL’s Phase II includes the new 18,800 hp Salineville Compressor Station in Columbiana County, OH, and an additional 9,400 hp compressor unit at the existing Colerain Compressor Station in Belmont County, OH, according to FERC filings.

FERC issued a notice to proceed with construction of Phase I of the TEAL project in December. Phase I includes, among other facilities and modifications, about 4.4 miles of new 36-inch diameter pipeline looping on Tetco’s system in Ohio.

The TEAL project is designed to add about 950,000 Dth/d of firm transport capacity from receipt points on Tetco’s M2 market zone and its Line 73 to an interconnect with Nexus near the existing Kensington Processing Plant in Columbiana County.

Both TEAL and Nexus received FERC certificates in an order handed down in August after a six-month stretch without a quorum on the Commission had caused delays to the project’s timeline.

The 255-mile, 1.5 Bcf/d Nexus is a joint venture between DTE Energy Co. and Spectra Energy Partners LP. The project is designed to transport Marcellus and Utica shale gas to existing interconnects in Michigan.

Spectra and Tetco are affiliates of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., which acquired Spectra last year. Nexus and TEAL are both slated for service in the third quarter of this year.

Once online, Nexus — about two-thirds subscribed as of last year — will have to compete with the similarly-routed 3.25 Bcf/d Rover Pipeline, which placed a substantial portion of its final phase into service at the start of this month and has been flowing more than 2 Bcf/d.

Rover and Nexus are part of a wave of Appalachian takeaway expansions that analysts have said could contribute to lower natural gas prices over the next several years as producers fulfill capacity commitments on new pipeline projects.

Meanwhile, debate over two of the major Appalachian takeaway expansions under development, the Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast pipelines, has exposed a rift among FERC Commissioners over how the agency handles natural gas infrastructure reviews.