The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on Suez‘s proposed Neptune liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port, which would be located about eight miles southeast of Gloucester, MA and 22 miles northeast of Boston. The project would include a subsea pipeline and a submerged buoy system that would surface to connect two cargo ships with onboard regasification. The 11-mile, 24-inch diameter pipeline would bring an average of 500 MMcf/d of regasified LNG to a connection with Algonquin’s HubLine pipeline in Boston Harbor. Construction would take about three years with commercial operation expected in 2009. The DEIS stated that using one pipeline system for the Neptune project and the competing Northeast Gateway offshore LNG project, sponsored by Excelerate Energy, would reduce the environmental impacts of both projects. The agencies considered the impacts of three proposed LNG import terminals: Neptune, Northeast Gateway and AES Battery Rock, which would be built on an island near the entrance to Boston Harbor. Public meetings on the Neptune DEIS will be held later this month in Massachusetts. For more information, go to MARAD’s website at https://www.marad.dot.gov/dwp/index.asp.

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved retail marketing certificates for MxEnergy Inc. of Stamford, CT, and Dominion Retail Inc. of Richmond, VA, for participation in Atlanta Gas Light’s service territory. MxEnergy Inc. received a certificate with plans to purchase the customers currently receiving service from Shell. MxEnergy is supplying gas to customers in 10 states but most of its customers are located in Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Ohio. Dominion Retail is currently supplying gas to customers in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio. With the addition of the two new marketers, there are 12 certificated natural gas marketers in the Atlanta Gas Light delivery area.

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