A long-time dream of bringing natural gas to energy-poor North Baja in Mexico’s burgeoning industrial and population centers along the U.S. border faces one last environmental hurdle on the U.S. side that backers are optimistic will be cleared still this month with the release of an environmental impact statement (EIS) from federal regulators. Without that hurdle being cleared, however, an already tight timetable and other environmental concerns related to the timing of the pipeline’s construction schedule might prevent initial supplies from flowing this coming summer.

“We’re optimistic” that it will all come together so the jointly sponsored pipeline by affiliates of Sempra Energy and PG&E Corp.’s National Energy Group (NEG) will be delivering gas to the first of two new power plants in Mexicali by mid-summer, according to Sandra McDonough, a Portland, OR-based spokesperson for PG&E NEG’s interstate pipeline company. Work has been underway for some time on the longer, Mexican portion of the 215-mile, $230 million pipeline running from Topock at the Arizona-California border to the Rosarito Beach area south of Tijuana in the northwest corner of Baja.

PG&E’s NEG is handling construction of the 80-mile U.S. portion, but has run into criticism from the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District, which has not formally opposed the line, but has raised concerns about the air emissions of the first of two power plants being opened in Mexicali, a 700-MW plant being built by Boston-based InterGen. If the environmental okays and approval to construct the U.S. portion from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is not forthcoming by the end of January, the sponsors have concerns about getting construction started in February and, thus, being completed in time to supply the InterGen plant.

Some other environmental concerns about the desert landscape in southeastern California make it critical that the construction get started in February, McDonough said. InterGen originally had looked at building its own pipeline, but was ultimately persuaded that the North Baja pipeline was a better alternative, so it is totally dependent on PG&E-Sempra getting their line permitted and built by mid-summer.

McDonough said PG&E’s gas transmission pipeline group is confident it will get the necessary two final apaprovals.

######

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. Allrights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republishedor redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without priorwritten consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.