Nicor Inc. has signed on as an equal partner in the plannedHorizon Pipeline with Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Natural Gas PipelineCompany of America (NGPL), the companies said last week. Thepartners also submitted Horizon’s application to FERC.

The Horizon Pipeline is a $75 million project that willoriginate in Joliet, IL and extend 74 miles into northern Illinois,connecting the emerging supply hub at Joliet with Nicor Gas’distribution system and an existing NGPL pipeline. Construction ofthe 36-inch, high-pressure Horizon Pipeline would begin in Springof 2001 with completion expected in Spring of 2002.

The initial capacity of the pipeline would be 380 MMcf/d, andthe project would be capable of economic expansion in the future toserve markets in southern Wisconsin. In May 1999, Nicor Gas, thelargest shipper, committed to transporting 300 MMcf/d on thepipeline.

“The strategic location of the pipeline will enable us toaccommodate growth in our traditional gas distribution business,and it will also put us in excellent position to supply gas for thenew electric power generation projects being proposed in northernIllinois,” said Nicor CEO Thomas L. Fisher.

Fisher said Horizon is the most economic alternative availableto Nicor Gas for providing additional gas to growing northernIllinois counties. He said a substantial portion of the projectwill use existing pipe and right of way, reducing the environmentalimpact and landowner concerns of installing new pipe and creatingnew rights- of-way.

“It was always our intention to build the Horizon Pipeline withan equity partner, and the addition of Nicor strengthens theproject,” said Richard D. Kinder, CEO of Kinder Morgan. “Ourinvestment in this pipeline infrastructure is symbolic of KinderMorgan’s ‘back to basics’ strategy to focus on our core assets andbusinesses.”

The Horizon project is similar to another proposed pipeline,Guardian, which is being sponsored by Wisconsin LDC Wisconsin Gasand its parent company Wicor, CMS Energy and Viking GasTransmission. Guardian is being designed with a firm capacitybetween 650 MMcf/d and 1.1 Bcf/d, and Wisconsin Gas already hascommitted to 650 MMcf/d on that line.

Coastal’s ANR Pipeline also has jumped into the fray, applyingfor an expansion of its Wisconsin system to add nearly 200 MMcf/dof capacity for in-service Nov. 2000 (see NGI, March 22, 1999). ANRalso has plans to build a new line that would extend from itsmainline in northern Illinois beneath Lake Michigan to markets inWisconsin.

ANR and Guardian have been engaged in a war of words over thegrowth markets in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin forseveral months. Now that the Horizon project has been filed, itssupporters can expect similar treatment. Joe Martucci, an ANRspokesman, said ANR will take a very close look at the filing.

“[W]e maintain, as we do in our case against the Guardianproject, that ANR can expand its existing system to serve thesegrowth markets far more economically and with far lessenvironmental disruption than a new greenfield project.”

John Norris

©Copyright 2000 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rightsreserved. The preceding news report may not be republished orredistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.