To hasten FERC approval of its Canada-to-Illinois project,Viking Voyageur Gas Transmission said it would be willing to beplaced at-risk for any capacity that is unsubscribed during thefirst 10 years of the pipeline’s operation.

“…Voyageur is so confident in the ultimate market responsethat it fully accepts financial responsibility for all costs of itspipeline regardless of the extent to which its capacity issubscribed,” the proposed pipeline told the Commission [CP98-65].Its “commitment to accept this risk should resolve any outstandingconcerns regarding the sufficiency of [its] market showing andallow the Commission to promptly issue a preliminary determinationapproving Voyageur’s application.” Voyageur seeks preliminaryapproval of its 1.4 Bcf/d project by no later than April 1, and afinal certificate by Nov. 1.

Prompt FERC action “will enable Voyageur to compete withAlliance for additional shippers on an equal footing; it will alsoprovide shippers, especially those in Wisconsin and Minnesota, withcompetitive choices.” This will pave the way for Voyageur tofinalize existing commitments from shippers for 62.5% of theproject’s total capacity, and to obtain commitments for itsremaining capacity.

Voyageur said it was particularly concerned that issues raisedby ANR Pipeline, a strident opponent of its pipeline project, woulddelay action on its project. “ANR is aggressively seeking toprotect its market dominance in Wisconsin and forestall anycompetition between Voyageur and Alliance, which is owned in partby ANR’s parent.” It urged the Commission to “reject ANR’stransparent delay tactics.”

The proposed 773-mile, 42-inch Voyageur pipeline would transportCanadian gas from a point near the U.S.-Canadian border at Noyes,MN, to Joliet, IL, and would largely compete with the proposedAlliance project.

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