The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given final environmental clearance to East Tennessee Natural Gas Co.’s Patriot expansion and extension project that will serve expanding natural gas distribution and generation load in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

“We have determined that construction and operation of the Patriot project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts, which would “appropriately and reasonably” be reduced if the recommended mitigation measures are followed, FERC staff said in its final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the Patriot expansion-extension. As suggested by staff, East Tennessee has agreed to re-locate a couple of compressor stations associated with the project, the FEIS noted.

The Duke Energy pipeline had asked the Commission to issue a final certificate for the project by Sept. 5 of this year, but FERC Chairman Pat Wood told East Tennessee last month that the agency would be unable to satisfy their request due largely to the significant landowner opposition to the project (see Daily GPI, Aug. 27). FERC awarded the Patriot expansion-extension a preliminary determination on non-environmental grounds in March, and a draft environmental impact statement in April.

The Patriot project, estimated at $289 million, entails an expansion of East Tennessee’s existing mainline system in Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, and an extension running from central Virginia to an interconnection with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s mainline in Rockingham County, NC. The extension is sized at 93 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline, while the expansion consists of 74 miles of looping. In connection with the project, a salt cavern storage facility is being developed by parent Duke Energy Gas Transmission and NUI Corp. in Saltville, VA, to bring added value and options to shippers subscribing to the extended transportation services.

The combined extension-expansion would boost East Tennessee’s existing design capacity of 700,000 Dth/d to more than 1.2 Bcf/d. The pipeline has proposed adding the capacity in three phases, with the initial in-service scheduled for May 2003.

East Tennessee said customer interest remains high in the project. It estimated that 87% of the 510,000 Dth/d of capacity to be created by the Patriot project is under contract on a long-term basis. Patriot customers include NUI Energy Brokers Inc., Carolina Power & Light, Duke Energy Murray LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina, Duke Energy Wythe LLC, United Cities Gas Co. and Henry County Power.

©Copyright 2002 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.