Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. Tuesday asked FERC for permission to place into service pipeline facilities that would serve Hardy Storage Co. LLC’s natural gas storage facility in northeastern West Virginia, which went into operation earlier this year.

The NiSource Inc. pipeline is seeking to begin service by Nov. 1 on 15.5 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline that loops its existing line beginning in Shenandoah County, VA, and terminating in Rockingham County, VA, and on 10 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline looping extending from Page County, VA, to Rockingham County.

The Columbia facilities, which were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 2005, will transport natural gas from the Hardy Storage site to parts of West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.

In April, Hardy Storage began accepting nominations for injections at the new facility in Hardy and Hampshire counties, WV. The Hardy Storage project is a joint venture of subsidiaries of Columbia Gas and Piedmont Natural Gas Co., which distributes gas to customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Columbia Gas is operator of the storage facility.

When fully developed in 2009, the storage field will have a working storage capacity of 12 Bcf. Injections made this year will allow the field to deliver up to 100,000 Dth/d of natural gas during the upcoming winter heating season; 150,000 Dth/d beginning in November 2008; and 176,000 Dth/d beginning in November 2009, according to Piedmont.

As a result of a 2004 open season, the storage facility’s capacity is fully subscribed under long-term, firm contracts to Washington Gas Light, Piedmont Natural Gas, Baltimore Gas & Electric and the City of Charlottesville, VA.

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