National

Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline Ltd. filed a preliminaryenvironmental scoping submission with Canada’s National EnergyBoard to build and operate its planned gas pipeline to VancouverIsland. The company expects to file an application with the NEBthis fall.

The National Energy Board received an application from AECSuffield Gas Pipeline Inc. (AEC Suffield) to construct and operatea gas pipeline from southeastern Alberta to southwesternSaskatchewan to be known as the North Suffield Pipeline. The60-mile pipeline extension will wrap around the northern part ofthe Suffield Military Block before it ties in to the existing AECSuffield meter station, which connects to TransCanada PipelinesLimited’s system near Burstall, SK. It would have a design capacityof 190 MMcf/d of gas and would cost C$22.3 million. AEC Suffield isplanning an in-service date of Nov. 1. AEC’s existing 72-mileSuffield pipeline was built in 1998 after a landmark decision bythe NEB. The ruling authorized a bypass around Nova Corp.’s40-year-old franchise in the chief gas-producing province ofAlberta and introduced market-based, negotiated tolling.

The new millenium saw the loss of two major energy companies bythree national energy trade associations, the Interstate NaturalGas Association of America (INGAA), the American Gas Association(AGA), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), while a fourth, theNatural Gas Supply Association (NGSA), says it is poised for acomeback.

Competition has arrived in Canadian gas transportation, but onlya case that is escalating into a big one before the National EnergyBoard will tell who gets what out of the changed pipeline grid.The battle — now heating up on paper, to be followed by hearingsbeginning Jan. 18 — is over a proposal to establish minimum,”reserve” or floor prices for excess deliveries by TransCanadaPipeLines Ltd.Round one has already been won by the pipeline’scustomers. After receiving strongly-worded protests, the NEBrejected an appeal by TransCanada to adopt floor prices effectiveNov. 1 or the start of the new gas contract year and heatingseason.

Competition has arrived in Canadian gas transportation, but onlya case that is escalating into a big one before the National EnergyBoard will tell who gets what out of the changed pipeline grid.The battle — now heating up on paper, to be followed by hearingsbeginning Jan. 18 — is over a proposal to establish minimum,”reserve” or floor prices for excess capacity on TransCanadaPipeLines Ltd.Round one has already been won by the pipeline’scustomers. After receiving strongly-worded protests, the NEBrejected an appeal by TransCanada to adopt floor prices effectiveNov. 1 or the start of the new gas contract year and heatingseason.

Gas will start flowing today from Nova Scotia to New Englandthrough the new Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline after theNational Energy Board (NEB) conditionally OK’d the start ofCanadian operations late yesterday. Meanwhile, consultationscontinue between Maritimes management and the Union of Nova ScotiaIndians (UNSI), which had sought to block the project.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners(NARUC) and Wyoming and Colorado regulators last week urged theFERC majority to throw in the towel in its effort to re-cast itsauthority as it relates to the Hinshaw amendment.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners(NARUC) and Colorado regulators earlier this week urged the FERCmajority to throw in the towel in its effort to re-cast itsauthority under the Hinshaw amendment.

As Atlantic Canada’s new natural gas industry prepares to beginproduction and export deliveries Nov. 1, the National Energy Board(NEB) has set out to keep it clear of legal and political feudsdisrupting the region’s fishing community.