New pipeline capacity to serve New England and New York will beforthcoming, Tennessee Gas Pipeline said yesterday. The companyreceived an overwhelming vote of approval from the market for itsproposed Connecticut-Long Island (CT-LI) Lateral Project, whichwould serve markets in Connecticut and on Long Island, NY. An openseason drew requests for 1.6 Bcf/d of firm transportation capacity,the company said.

The project, which is expected to add at least 450,000 Dth/d ofnew firm capacity to the region, would provide access to allinterstate natural gas pipelines in the New England regionincluding Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, Portland Natural GasTransmission, Algonquin Gas Transmission and Iroquois GasTransmission. Service could commence as early as November 2003,depending on the final project scope and receipt of all necessaryregulatory approvals.

“The open season results reinforce market support for additionalcapacity to these regions,” said Tennessee President Stephen C.Beasley. “We were pleased by the diversity of response to the openseason. Tennessee received requests from utility companies,marketers and power generation developers interested in securingcapacity on this pipeline. While the majority of the receipts werefrom the Dracut, we were also pleased to see a significant interestin Niagara and Gulf Coast points as well. By providing access toexisting pipeline assets located in the New York and New Englandareas, this project ensures natural gas consumers in these marketshave additional flexibility, reliability and liquidity.”

There was no word from Duke and KeySpan on the progress of theircompeting pipeline proposal, the Islander East pipeline (see DailyGPI, Feb.1). The proposed 40-mileIslander East line is expected to carry 250,000 Dth/d from aninterconnection with Duke’s Algonquin Gas Transmission system inConnecticut. Duke’s Pat Whitty previously acknowledged the marketwould not support both projects.

Growth in power generation and traditional markets in theNortheast and Mid-Atlantic regions has triggered significantinterest in transporting additional gas supplies to these areas.The proposed terminus of Tennessee’s CT-LI lateral is in SuffolkCounty on eastern Long Island. The lateral will enable deliveriesto various facilities owned and operated by local distributioncompanies, including Yankee Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas, SouthernConnecticut Gas, and KeySpan Energy Delivery Long Island, as wellas proposed power generation facilities along the route.

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