UGI Energy Services Inc. on Monday announced plans for a new 35-mile pipeline in Pennsylvania that would mostly supply a planned natural gas-fired power plant in the central part of the state.

UGI said the pipeline would begin in Lycoming County, PA, and end at a site in Snyder County, PA, where plans are in the works to build a gas-fired power plant at the existing site of one that runs on coal. The Sunbury Pipeline is being designed to provide up to 200,000 Dth/d of natural gas to the central Pennsylvania area.

It would deliver regionally produced Marcellus and Utica shale gas. UGI said it expects to invest $150 million on the pipeline’s construction.

The company is currently surveying properties to determine the best route for the pipeline. It said it had started the state and federal regulatory process with a pre-filing request already submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Construction on the project is expected to begin in early 2016 and take 11 months to complete for an in-service date of 2017.

UGI said it is currently negotiating a 180,000 Dth/d agreement with Hummel Station LLC, which plans to build the gas-fired power plant in Snyder County. The company also said it would hold an open season within the next month to secure other firm shippers for the remaining capacity on the line.

Monday’s announcement was the latest from UGI about its plans for growing supplies of natural gas in the region (see Shale Daily, Nov. 21). More than 70% of the natural gas it currently delivers is produced in the Marcellus Shale. Earlier this month, the company became the first natural gas utility in the state to directly connect its distribution system to a Utica Shale well in north-central Pennsylvania (see Shale Daily, Dec. 2). Few details were available about Hummel’s plans to construct a gas-fired power plant in Snyder County, but more than 10 such plants have been planned for the state (see Daily GPI, Nov. 3).