Guardian Pipeline, a planned new interstate natural gas pipelineto serve northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, is movingforward with the announcement that its “open season” will beginTuesday, May 4, 1999, at 8 a.m. CDT. Guardian Pipeline is jointlyowned by WICOR, CMS Energy Corp. and Viking Gas Transmission, witheach holding a one-third interest.

The open season, which closes at 4 p.m. CDT. on Thursday, June3, will give all shippers an opportunity to obtain firmtranspiration capacity.

The Guardian Pipeline will have a minimum capacity of 650 MMcf/dand will be expandable, depending on the market response, to acapacity of up to 1.1 Bcf/d. The pipeline already has signed a firmprecedent agreement with Wisconsin Gas Co. to transport 650 MMcf/d,beginning November 1, 2002, the project’s planned in-service date.

The project will transport natural gas from interconnectionswith the Alliance, Northern Border, NICOR Gas Company, MidwesternGas Transmission, Natural Gas Pipeline of America and the proposedTristate Pipeline at the Chicago Hub near Joliet, IL, to northernIllinois, and southeastern Wisconsin markets. The project willconsist of approximately 24,000 hp of compression and approximately147 miles of 36-inch pipe extending from Joliet to the Watertown,WI area.

“The Guardian Pipeline will provide a competitively pricedalternative with flexible terms and conditions for transporting gasfrom the Chicago Hub to northern Illinois and Wisconsin markets,”said George Hass, Guardian project manager. “In addition, Guardianwill provide its shippers with access to multiple upstreamtransportation and storage providers at the Chicago Hub, therebygiving them the ability to obtain the lowest cost gas serviceswhich can be tailored to precisely fit their needs.”

For more information on Guardian Pipeline’s open season, pleasecontact: CMS Energy’s George Hass, 313-436-9238; Dick Snapp,713-627-4796; WICOR’s Dick Osborne, 414-291-6720; or Viking’s ToddRushton, 651-229-2273.

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