Tier

More than a decade after the project was first proposed, Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC’s 182-mile, 30-inch diameter gas pipeline across New York’s Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley will be fully operational by Dec. 15, the company said Wednesday.

Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC remains on schedule to complete the 182-mile-long, 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline across New York’s Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley by November, the company said. More than 90% of the pipeline is expected to be installed within or next to existing pipeline rights-of-way. Millennium, which would transport up to 525,400 Dth/d when it goes in service, is the centerpiece of a $1 billion investment in new energy infrastructure that includes new facilities by Empire Pipeline, Algonquin Gas Transmission and Iroquois Gas Transmission. The pipeline is anchored by National Grid, Consolidated Edison of New York, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. and Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. Millennium is jointly owned by affiliates of NiSource Inc., National Grid and DTE Energy. Construction on the pipeline was begun last year with the installation of 12 miles of pipeline, mostly in New York’s Orange and Rockland counties (see NGI, May 12). Most of the mainline pipeline installation work, however, is scheduled to be completed this year to meet the targeted November in-service date. Some land restoration and environmental monitoring work is expected to extend into 2009 and beyond, Millennium said. More than 2,000 workers — many of them hired locally — were to be involved in the construction project. Houston-based U.S. Pipeline Inc. is the pipeline contractor, and Precision Pipeline LLC of Eau Claire, WI, is installing horizontal directional drill crossings below selected rivers, streams and roadways.

The market found enough cooling load building in the southern tier of U.S. states and enough residual cold weather in northern market areas and the western half of Canada to post increases at all but two points Thursday. There were also indications of strong storage buying, and the 17.4-cent advance by May futures Wednesday gave an extra boost to Thursday’s cash prices.

After years of fits and starts, Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC has begun construction of its 182-mile long, 30-inch diameter pipeline across New York’s Southern Tier and the lower Hudson Valley, the company said Friday.

After years of fits and starts, Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC has begun construction of its 182-mile long, 30-inch diameter pipeline across New York’s Southern Tier and the lower Hudson Valley, the company said Friday.

It’s still fairly cold in most markets early this week outside the southern tier of states, but some moderation of temperatures was in evidence as most points ranged from flat to down as much as 80 cents Monday. However, a fresh blast of cold air moving southward from Canada allowed Northeast citygates and some points in the Gulf Coast to continue the upward price trek they had launched in the last three trading days of last week.

A great deal of cooling load across the southern tier of states combined with a moderate amount of heating load in the Northeast and (to a lesser degree) Midwest to produce rising prices at nearly all points Tuesday. A 6.4-cent screen gain the day before added a little extra impetus to the bullish cash market.

Substantially cold weather has largely receded into Canada and the northern tier of American states, but the cash market found enough of it still around to stage moderate rebounds Monday at a majority of points. The screen’s 3.5-cent gain on the preceding Friday and the return of industrial load from its usual weekend hiatus provided small amounts of ancillary support.

A full-fledged heat wave across the southern tier of states, getting a modest assist from the previous day’s screen rise, turned the cash market around Wednesday for a mostly mild rally. Even with slight cool downs due Thursday in the Rockies, conditions will remain hot enough that most of the largest gains were recorded in the West.