Moving ahead with plans to establish a strong presence in theCarolinas, Williams’ gas pipeline unit said yesterday it has filedan application with FERC to construct and operate the previouslyannounced Sundance expansion project.

The project is designed to lengthen the Transco mainline andprovide an additional 236,383 Dth/d of firm transportation capacityto an area that Williams believes is ripe for major energy growth.Transco hopes to gain FERC certification by the summer of nextyear.

Approximately 38 miles of new pipeline along the company’sexisting mainline system will be installed along with modificationsto existing compressor stations in Alabama, Georgia and NorthCarolina, according to the project plans. The $134 million projectwill go in service in the spring of 2002.

“Robust economic growth in the southeast, and the subsequentdevelopment of gas-fired power generation facilities, is drivingthis expansion of our pipeline system,” said Gary D. Lauderdale,senior vice president and general manager of Transco. “By expandingour existing system, we can provide additional natural gastransmission capacity to new power developers and traditionalend-users at a competitive price in time to meet the marketdemand.”

Paula Delaney, a spokeswoman for Transco, said Sundance is fullysubscribed with firm transportation contracts. Two main powergenerators have signed on, as well as some lesser industrial andcommercial customers. Some of these customers will be announcingtheir agreements with Transco in the near future, but she could notprovide any more details.

One of the main drivers of the energy growth in the region isCarolina Light & Power (CP&L). It plans to constructfacilities and generate 7,000 MW in the region by 2010. That totalincludes plans to build up to seven combustion turbine generatorsat sites in Richmond and Rowan counties to be operational in 2001and 2002.

Interestingly, CP&L also has its own pipeline plan for theregion in the form of a $100 million 82-mile intrastate lateralbetween Iredell and Richmond counties which would originate fromthe Transco mainline. The 30-inch-diameter pipeline would have aninitial capacity of 200 MMcf/d with a total capability of 700MMcf/d. It is scheduled to be completed during the spring of 2001to coincide with the start-up of the Richmond County power plant.

“I can’t speak for Sundance,” said Mike Hughes, a CP&Lspokesman, “but this lateral is being built with the goal to servenewly-constructed gas-fired generation.”

CP&L’s pipeline, announced last December (see Daily GPI Dec. 15), replaced a joint venture project between CP&L and Sonat called the Palmetto Pipeline. While Transco and Scana were able to stymie the Palmetto with protests at FERC, CP&L’s new project is an intrastate line and does not require FERC or state commission approval. Hughes said the environmental approvals needed for the lateral are progressing as planned but it’s still very early in the process.

©Copyright 2000 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.