Dominion Transmission will begin an open season on Tuesday to solicit interest in its proposed Dominion Hub Project, which would be designed to receive and store new natural gas supplies from the western United States for delivery throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The open season, which will end June 27, will solicit interest in 18 million Dth of storage capacity with 300,000 Dth/d of deliverability.

The proposed hub would have a targeted in-service date of November 2009. The Dominion subsidiary operates 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission lines stretching from Ohio through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. It also operates the nation’s largest gas storage system with more than 950 Bcf of capacity.

“Producers and end-users alike will benefit from the flexibility and dependability of Dominion’s hub-like pipeline system,” said Paul Koonce, Dominion Energy CEO. “Dominion’s pipeline system is interconnected with multiple pipelines systems and provides access to growing markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.”

Dominion’s Josh Eakle said Friday the proposed hub is not designed to specifically tie into either of the mammoth west-to-east gas pipelines now on the drawing board: the Rockies Express or the Continental Connector.

“This hub would be designed to carry any new supplies,” Eakle told NGI. “It isn’t tied into any specific pipeline, any specific company.”

The Rockies Express pipeline is joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Sempra Pipelines & Storage that is being built in three phases (see Daily GPI, May 12). If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the $3 billion, up to 42-inch diameter gas pipeline to carry Rockies gas eastward to Ohio would be the largest built in the United States in more than 20 years.

El Paso Corp.’s Continental Connector would connect the company’s Rocky Mountain region pipelines, including Colorado Interstate, Wyoming Interstate and Cheyenne Plains, with three lines in the eastern half of the country, ANR Pipeline, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Southern Natural Gas. It was granted approval by FERC earlier this month to begin a pre-filing process (see Daily GPI, May 2).

Dominion’s proposal is subject to approval by FERC. Rates for the service will be based on market participation and the final facilities design.

For additional information contact Eakle at (804) 819-2827 or Jeff Keister at (804) 819-2820. Information also will be available on Dominion’s electronic bulletin board at escript.dom.com.

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