NGI Archives | NGI All News Access
Coastal, Peoples Energy Pipe Targets WI Demand Growth
Growing power generation and LDC demand for gas have promptedPeoples Energy and The Coastal Corp. to team up to develop a130-mile gas pipeline from Indiana to Wisconsin. The pipe, aimed atincremental growth markets, is intended to serve electric powerplants and local utility growth markets in northern Illinois,northwestern Indiana and Wisconsin beginning in late 2001. Initialcapacity will be 1.4 Bcf/d. According to the North AmericanElectric Reliability Council, the region will need more than 8,200megawatts of additional generating capacity by 2005.
The proposed pipeline will begin at St. John, IN, whereCoastal’s ANR Pipeline has an existing compressor station, andextend north for 26 miles to Lake Michigan near theIllinois-Indiana border where a new 50,000 hp compressor stationwill be built. More than 90% of the route is located along existingrights-of-way. From there, the pipeline will continue north underLake Michigan for about 104 miles, running about three to 10 milesfrom the western shore. Plans call for the pipeline to be installedwith a minimum of three feet of cover in the lakebed and deeper inshipping channels.
ANR spokesman Joe Martucci said a lake route would be lessexpensive than a purely land-based route as the pipeline would haveto go through heavily populated areas of Michigan. “The water routemay seem a bit novel. If people keep an open mind… I think theywill come away with a favorable impression of the project.” Theproject is projected to cost $300 million.
Additional equity partners are anticipated; however, Martucciwould not comment on how many are possible or who they might be.Since the system is designed to serve the incremental needs ofmultiple electric and gas customers, plans call for projectmanagement to be structured with multiple owners, with no one partyhaving a controlling interest.
Laterals are planned to serve generation and other markets alongthe pipeline route. The proposed offshore route is intended tominimize the project’s impact on landowners. Using horizontaldrilling techniques developed in the Gulf of Mexico, laterals willbe completed without trenching or otherwise disturbing shoreline oradjacent shallow lakebed areas. Following environmental review, thepartnership plans to file with the FERC later next year.
Martucci said the pipeline is not in competition with the GuardianPipeline, which is a challenge to ANR’s service territory backed byCMS Energy of Dearborn, MI; WICOR of Milwaukee, WI; and Viking Gas, awholly owned subsidiary of Northern States Power Co. of St. Paul,MN. Last week Guardian filed its project at the FERC (see Daily GPI,Dec. 2). The Coastal-Peoples projectalso would not compete with the announced Horizon Pipeline, which isbacked by Kinder-Morgan, formerly KN Energy.
“I have not heard much at all about Horizon lately,” Martuccisaid. “I don’t think that project is aimed at this particularmarket area that we’ve identified.” Kinder-Morgan did not returncalls for comment by press time.
“Coastal is very pleased to join Peoples Energy in announcingthis outstanding project,” said Coastal CEO David A. Arledge.”Natural gas is the preferred fuel for new electric powergeneration, and the pipeline is strategically located to providereliable and economically priced gas supplies to this region as theneed for the fuel increases.”
©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.
© 2024 Natural Gas Intelligence. All rights reserved.
ISSN © 1532-1231 | ISSN © 2577-9877 |