FERC yesterday issued a preliminary determination (PD) forFlorida Gas Transmission’s Phase IV mainline expansion project inwhich it seeks to meet the growing gas needs of the burgeoningpower generation market in Florida.

The project calls for the construction of 205 miles of pipelineand associatedcompression facilities in Mississippi, Alabama andFlorida, which when combined with turned-back capacity on FGT’ssystem, would enable the pipeline to provide about 327,000 MMBtu/dof additional firm service.

Shippers that have signed up for new capacity include mostlyutilities: Florida Power and Light (FP&L), Florida Power,Kissimmee Utility Authority, Florida Municipal Power Agency,Peoples Gas System, Georgia-Pacific Corp., National Gypsum, andEnron Capital & Trade Resources.

The $350 million expansion has a proposed in-service date of May1, 2001. The start-up is scheduled to coincide with the operationof FP&L’s planned 1,500 MW combined-cycle power plant, whichwill have three times the capability of its two existing oil-firedsteam generators. FP&L is the largest shipper on FGT’s Phase IVproject, with its maximum season daily contract demand ranging from100,000 MMBtu/d to 255,000 MMBtu/d.

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