Williams Partners’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC’s (Transco) has asked FERC for authorization to place into service its Rockaway Delivery Lateral, which would provide natural gas transportation service into New York City’s Brooklyn and Queens boroughs.

Transco expects being able to place the facilities into service as early as Friday, according to a letter filed at FERC Wednesday.

The request came a year after FERC gave regulatory approval to the Rockaway Delivery Lateral and Northeast Connector projects, which together would allow natural gas transportation service to the boroughs (see Daily GPI, May 12, 2014; Dec. 10, 2013). The projects are among about $5 billion in infrastructure investments that Williams Partners expects to make to its 1,800-mile Transco system by 2017. According to the FERC order, the two projects will cost an estimated $48.5 million.

The Rockaway Delivery Lateral project calls for the construction and operation of 3.2 miles of 26-inch diameter pipeline, a new meter station and associated facilities. It would extend Transco’s existing Lower New York Bay Lateral in the Atlantic Ocean off of Brooklyn to National Grid’s distribution system in the city, at a delivery point on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, and proved 647,000 Dth/d of year-round firm transportation service.

The Northeast Connector project was placed into service and partial service commenced Dec. 1. Transco said the project will begin providing full project volumes to the Rockaway Delivery Lateral on that project’s in service date. The Northeast Connector will enable Transco to provide 100,000 Dth/d of firm transportation service to National Grid and would allow National Grid to shift 547,000 Dth/d from an existing delivery point on Long Island, NY, to a new delivery point on the Rockaway Peninsula.