FERC has given the go-ahead to a major project that wouldincrease the deliverability of Jackson Prairie Storage by 300MMcf/d and would more than double its best-efforts withdrawal rate,both of which will boost the peak-shaving capabilities of thestorage provider.

The expansion and upgrade would increase the firm withdrawaldeliverability of Jackson Prairie, located in Lewis County, WA, to850 MMcf/d from 550 MMcf/d; the best-efforts withdrawal rate to 150MMcf/d from 71.8 MMcf/d; total storage capacity to 39.4 Bcf from34.3 Bcf; and working gas capacity to 18.3 Bcf from 15.1 Bcf.Cushion gas capacity would drop slightly to 19 Bcf from 19.2 Bcf.

The Commission confirmed the need for the project, saying thatit would directly benefit Jackson Prairie’s three owners – PugetSound Energy, Northwest Pipeline and Washington Water Power. “Thisadditional storage, as well as the service changes, will enhanceNorthwest’s ability to cope with system balancing as well as aidPuget Sound’s and Water Power’s growing demands for service intheir market areas,” the order said [CP98-285].

The order, among other things, would allow Puget Sound to 1)construct up to eight additional withdrawal wells and associatedpipeline facilities in Jackson Prairie’s Zone 2 reservoir; 2)install a new Solar Taurus compressor with 6,960 hp; 3) construct1.8 miles of 24-inch looped pipeline between the compressionfacilities and the meter station at the storage project deliverypoint to Northwest’s transmission system; 4) upgrade the existingmeter station at the storage project to accommodate the increasedwithdrawal rate; and 5) replace and upgrade the existingdehydration units and make station piping modifications.

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