Pinal

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday issued a certificate to El Paso Natural Gas pipeline for a compression expansion of its East Valley Lateral in Pinal County, AZ. The project calls for the construction of the Picacho Compressor Station, which will consist of three compressor units totaling 8,290 hp, on the 36.7-mile lateral to interconnect with both Transwestern Pipeline’s recently approved Phoenix lateral and El Paso’s mainline. El Paso has pegged the cost of the compression expansion at approximately $24 million. El Paso purchased the lateral in 2006 from Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District. The acquisition was subject to two repurchase options by Salt River or its assignee, Transwestern. Transwestern already has exercised one option to acquire 203,500 Dth/d of capacity on the lateral and has another option to pick up 30,000 Dth/d of capacity. The proposed compression expansion would increase East Valley Lateral’s capacity to 372,500 Dth/d from its existing level of 342,500 Dth. This would allow Transwestern to exercise its second capacity option and enable El Paso to own 130,000 Dth/d of firm capacity. “Construction of the compressor station will ensure that El Paso is able to maintain existing services and also provide El Paso with additional flexibility for service in the Phoenix area, particularly during peak-demand periods,” the order said [CP07-448].