As a group of protesters from Mount Vernon, NY, looked on at Commission headquarters in Washington, DC, Wednesday, FERC voted out an interim order authorizing the construction of all but two miles of the Millennium Pipeline project to deliver natural gas into New York state.

The Commission gave local officials from Mount Vernon, the town’s residents and Millennium’s sponsors 60 days in which to resolve the dispute over routing for the last two miles of the pipeline. After that period, it said it will then issue a final order approving the remainder of the construction (CP98-150).

“This pipeline is needed for the common good,” said Commissioner William Massey, adding that it will likely have to interconnect with Consolidated Edison’s high-pressure system in Westchester County, which includes Mount Vernon. “We’re eight-ninths of the way there,” noted Chairman Pat Wood. “They need to come to some agreement.”

The commission reaffirmed that Millennium has sufficient market support for its project. The New York Public Service Commission has repeatedly asked FERC to speed up the approval process because of the need for additional gas supplies for power generation and other needs in the state.

The group of Mount Vernon protesters, which traveled to Washington by bus, also met with Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) on Capitol Hill to discuss the pipeline project.

The Millennium pipeline, which was proposed in December 1997, would bring about 714 MMcf/d of natural gas from Canada under Lake Erie to the New York metropolitan area. The proposed 425-mile pipeline is sponsored by Columbia Gas Transmission, TransCanada PipeLines, Westcoast Energy and MCN Energy Group.

Meanwhile, FERC struck a ruling on Independence Pipeline from the meeting’s agenda on Wednesday. Some Capitol Hill legislators and landowners have asked the Commission to withdraw its final certificate for Independence in light of the pipeline’s inability to show market support for its capacity.

Independence would run about 442 miles from Defiance, OH, to the hub in Leidy, PA. Project sponsors are ANR Pipeline, National Fuel and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line.

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