Expansion

There’s little doubt that pipeline capacity between the RockyMountain region and the Midcontinent is about to experience asignificant upgrade. In all, three large projects have surfaced,including one formally announced this week by Colorado InterstateGas (CIG).

The Iroquois Gas Transmission System announced late Friday ithas filed with FERC for a certificate of public convenience andnecessity to construct a $170 million extension which the companysays will help meet gas demand in New York City. If approved, theEastchester Extension project will start service in 2002.

A unit of Williams’ energy services business finished expandinga gas plant in Opal, WY, that boosts cryogenic processing capacityto 735 MMcf/d and gas liquids extraction capacity to 43,000 b/d. Athird cryogenic processing train was added, two existing cryogenictrains were modified, and control systems and field compressionwere enhanced. Total costs exceeded $60 million.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday awardedNorthern Border Pipeline a certificate to build its Project 2000extension into northern Indiana, which would provide customersthere access to less expensive Canadian gas supplies for the firsttime.

If FERC should deny rehearing of the interim order approvingIndependence Pipeline and the MarketLink expansion, Texas EasternTransmission (Tetco) has asked for a stay of the projects pendingjudicial review.

Continuing the expansion beyond its core utility operations,FirstEnergy Corp. made a splash in the unregulated sector last weekwhen its energy services marketing arm, FirstEnergy Services,announced a management and supply deal with Republic TechnologiesInternational, Inc. (RTI), one of the largest producers of specialbar-quality steel products in the U.S. The deal, which is thelargest service agreement FirstEnergy has ever signed, couldproduce more than $1 billion in commodity and energy service salesover the span of the five-year contract.

Continuing the expansion beyond its core utility operations,FirstEnergy Corp. made a splash in the unregulated sector yesterdaywhen its energy services marketing arm, FirstEnergy Services,announced a management and supply deal with Republic TechnologiesInternational, Inc. (RTI), one of the largest producers of specialbar-quality steel products in the U.S. The deal, which is thelargest service agreement FirstEnergy has ever signed, couldproduce more than $1 billion in commodity and energy service salesover the span of the five-year contract.

Producers active in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, which is fastbecoming the most prodigious play in the nation, breathed acollective sigh of relief last week when FERC gave WyomingInterstate Co. Inc. (WIC) the go-ahead to construct its MedicineBow connecting lateral that will enable it to tap into thebountiful coal-bed methane (CBM) reserves in the region. Withoutit, producers said they would be forced to shut in production ofCBM gas for the long term.

The technology and economics are in line for commercialexpansion of distributed power, but progress is threatened byentrenched utilities, according to distributed power sponsors.