East Tennessee Natural Gas, a unit of Houston-based El PasoEnergy, is holding an open season for incremental capacity alongits mainline in Tennessee and Virginia. The proposed expansionwould entail construction of mainline pipeline, compression andrelated facilities. Service is targeted to begin Nov. 1, 2000.

Since 1996, El Paso has added more than 75,000 Dth/d of capacityto East Tennessee, an increase of more than 10%. All the expansionsreceived rolled-in rate treatment, said Bryan Neskora, manager ofbusiness development for El Paso.

“The existing customers are growing. East Tennessee is really asubset of the whole Southeast, which is just growing by leaps andbounds. a lot of industrial growth in the area,” Neskora said. EastTennessee is in the middle of a project right now. Called theVirginia expansion, the first phase in Virginia has been completed.Work in Tennessee will take place this summer with completionexpected by November. “That’s a fairly small expansion. It’s alittle over 10,000 Dth/d. That’s a combination of shippers inTennessee and Virginia.”

This new project will allow shippers to access supply from theNorthern Border and Alliance Pipeline projects as well as the GulfCoast and Texas.

The size of the expansion will be determined by the results ofthe open season, which closes at the end of April. Interestedparties should send a written request for service to Neskora at ElPaso Energy, P.O. Box 2511, Houston, TX 77252, Fax: (713) 420-2369,no later than 5 PM CST, April 30. For questions call Neskora at(713) 420-2655, or Bill Wickman at (423) 694-1677.

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.