Williams’ Northwest Pipeline unit said Wednesday that it filed an application with FERC seeking to amend the certificate for its previously approved Everett Delta Project. The proposed amendment would lessen the proposed pipe’s capacity by 19,900 Dth/d.

Williams Northwest Pipeline said it was seeking to decrease the capacity stipulated in the original Everett Delta Project certificate, which was originally approved in October 2001, to reflect the slowdown in the merchant power marketplace (see Daily GPI, Nov. 8, 2001).

As currently certificated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the project includes approximately 9 miles of 20-inch lateral pipeline in Snohomish County, WA, to be constructed, owned and operated by Northwest Pipeline to provide natural gas to a proposed power plant and additional service to the local distribution company, Puget Sound Energy (PSE).

After receiving the certificate, the power plant was canceled. In April 2003, Northwest and PSE announced a revised $25 million Everett Delta Project designed to increase the reliability of the utility’s natural gas system in western Washington (see Daily GPI, April 28).

Wednesday’s filing asks the Commission to amend the certificate to construct and operate 9.15 miles of 16-inch pipeline and related facilities to provide 113,100 Dth/d of natural gas for PSE’s growing distribution requirements. When first announced in late 2001, the original cost of the project was expected to be $17.2 million and the capacity was expected to be 133,000 Dth/d.

Under the new agreement, Northwest said it expects to allow PSE to be the passive owner of the lateral and meter station facilities, with Northwest leasing and operating the facilities as part of its interstate transmission system for five years. Northwest is also seeking pre-granted abandonment upon expiration of the lease, at which time PSE will begin operating the line as part of its local distribution system.

Williams said construction is scheduled to begin next summer with a targeted in-service date prior to the 2004-2005 winter heating season.

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