PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC of
Wyomissing plans to build a 100-mile pipeline that aims to bring lower cost
natural gas produced in the Marcellus Shale region to homes and businesses in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The PennEast Pipeline is
designed to provide natural gas service to 4.7 million homes, up to 1 billion
cubic feet per day, which would offer consumer savings in lower energy and gas
transportation costs, according to a news release. PennEast was formed by the
partnership of AGL Resources, NJR Pipeline Co., South Jersey Industries and UGI
Energy Services, which combined are investing nearly $1 billion to build the
pipeline.
The pipeline would begin in
Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania and end at Transco’s
Trenton-Woodbury interconnection in New Jersey. In Pennsylvania, the
preliminary route would run from Luzerne through Carbon County, Northampton
County and Bucks County.
UGI Energy Services is the
project manager for the development of the project and will operate the
pipeline, according to the release.
“Natural gas is based in
Pennsylvania, but there’s an opportunity to provide the rest of the country and
make more markets available,” Patricia Kornick, project spokeswoman, told
Lehigh Valley Business this morning. “With Pennsylvania by far the fastest
growing natural gas market, we recognized an opportunity.”
As an example of cost
reductions, natural gas prices in New Jersey exceeded $100 per dekatherm this
past winter, Kornick said. Meanwhile, natural gas in the area that PennEast
will access traded in the range of $3 to $4 per dekatherm. The proposed pipeline
will help reduce this price volatility to the benefit of New Jersey’s nearly 3
million natural gas consumers.
PennEast will begin preliminary
engineering studies in the next few months, along with a formal application
before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If all local, state and
federal approvals are approved, construction of the pipeline could begin in
2017, she said.
If approved, it would be in
service in late 2018.
The route depends on acquiring
all approvals, responses from stakeholders and what PennEast is able to gauge
from environmental studies that factor into the route, Kornick said.
“We will do open houses
throughout the project,” she said. “We want to give them [consumers and
business owners] an opportunity to participate in the process.”
During the seven-month
construction phase, the PennEast project is estimated to create in excess of
2,000 jobs, as well as many other ancillary jobs.
According to the news release,
prior to the development of the Marcellus Shale industry, natural gas lines
were built to bring gas primarily from the Gulf of Mexico region and Canada
into the Northeast.
Pennsylvania is the fastest
growing natural gas producing state in the country, according to the U.S.
Energy Information Administration, and the PennEast sponsor companies
recognized the opportunity to use locally produced gas to serve growing markets
in the mid-Atlantic.
Source: LVB.com
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