FERC has given Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) permission to begin partial path service on its proposed Leidy Southeast expansion [CP13-551].

In a letter last Thursday, Terry Turpin, director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s division of gas for environment and engineering, granted Transco’s “request to commence partial path service in order to provide 525,000 Dth/d of incremental firm transportation capacity associated with the Leidy Southeast Expansion Project.

“I note that no additional facilities need to be constructed for Transco to provide this interim service to project customers and Transco will continue partial path service until such time as the Leidy Southeast Expansion Project facilities are constructed and approved for service.”

Last December, FERC issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the project, which would create an additional 525,000 Dth/d of capacity from Transco’s Leidy line in Pennsylvania as far south as Choctaw County, AL (see Daily GPI, Dec. 18, 2014).

The project, expected to cost $607 million, is designed relieve capacity constraints in the Marcellus Shale while serving local distribution companies along the Atlantic Seaboard. It includes construction of approximately 30 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline loops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the net addition of 71,900 hp at four existing compressor stations, and minor modifications to meter stations and associated facilities.

FERC issued an environmental assessment for the project last August. Transco filed an application with the Commission to build and operate the project in October 2013, with a target in-service date of Dec. 1, 2015 (see Shale Daily, Aug. 12, 2014; Oct. 2, 2013).