Pipelines may fuel region with homegrown gas

BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS

Times-Shamrock Writer

Three pipelines in the works could provideNortheastern Pennsylvaniawith natural gas from its own backyard.

Chief Gathering LLC and Williams Field Services LLC now have all the required permissions for their pipelines and related equipment to bring natural gas from wells inSusquehannaCountyto connect to the Transco interstate pipeline inDallasTownshipand send to market.

Another company,UGIEnergy Services, is in the early stages of a pipeline extension to transport gas from wells in Susquehanna andWyomingcounties toUGIUtilities customers inLuzerneCounty.

Here is a look at where the three companies’ plans currently stand.

UGI Energy Services

UGIEnergy Services Inc., a subsidiary ofUGICorp., intends to construct a $150 million, 30-mile extension of the Auburn Gathering System from its end in northernWyomingCountytoLuzerneCounty, possibly inPlainsTownship.

“We’re still in the early development stages, as opposed to the other two (companies),”UGIEnergy Services spokesman Peter Terranova said.

“There’s a ton of preliminary work that needs to take place.”

The pipeline route is subject to change becauseUGIis still talking to landowners to get rights of way, he said. There are also issues related to obtaining permits, such as environmental studies to be completed.

The new pipeline would tie into an existingUGIUtilities natural gas distribution line, Terranova said. He said one possibility under consideration is theUGIdistribution point onSaylor AvenueoffRiver RoadinPlainsTownship.

“We’re very much focused on providing low-cost Marcellus gas directly to our utility consumers,” Terranova said. “That would be our first priority.”

The goal is to convert the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area to all-Marcellus gas by 2013.

Michael Love,UGI’s vice president of government affairs, said Tioga, Potter and McKean counties are already all-Marcellus, with customers receiving gas from wells inTiogaCounty, nearMansfield.

The proximity and location are a huge advantage, according to Love, who noted that “24 miles is a heck of a lot closer to a large, reliable source of gas than a 1,500-mile trip from theGulf of Mexico.”

Bringing in gas fromPennsylvania’s northern tier givesUGIa “tremendous advantage,” not only by avoiding large transmission fees, but in terms of reliability, Love said. When hurricanes like Rita and Katrina hit the Gulf coast, it was difficult to transport the gas.

“It would be nice to be able to rely on local gas so we didn’t have to keep looking at the Gulf to see which hurricane could disrupt our supply,” Love said.

Terranova saidUGI’sAuburnextension isn’t planned to be in service until mid- to late 2014.

Depending on when they get their own gathering lines operational, Chief and Williams could be contenders to provideUGIwith Marcellus gas.

“They would be, and I know we had gone out asking for bids. I have not heard as to what the resolution of that was,” Love said.

Chief Gathering LLC

After a series of hearings that started in February, theDallasTownshipzoning hearing board granted Chief Gathering LLC permission on Dec. 7 to build a natural gas metering station offHildebrandt Road, to tap into the Transco.

On Wednesday the board allowed Chief to modify the agreement to have a closer fence around the station, in exchange for including fast-acting safety shutoff valves that would block off the gas in the event of a leak to prevent it from building up to dangerous levels.

James Scott, Chief’s senior vice president for midstream operations, said the company hasn’t bid out work on the metering station site.

However, contractor Price-Gregory has been selected to construct the pipeline, and will start clearing trees within the next few weeks, starting at the northern end inSusquehannaCountyand working down toDallas.

The target timeline to complete construction of the pipeline is August, Scott said. When work starts, it will begin in several locations at once.

“You can’t stick 300 people on one piece of pipe,” Scott said.

Scott said Chief is getting ready to schedule notification of landowners who leased rights of way and will be directly impacted. He encourages people who live near the areas that will be affected by the pipeline and who also want to be notified of Chief’s plans to send the company an email.

Chief representatives have heard residents’ concerns, and Scott said direct communication is easier than through a third-party source. However, the public won’t be contacted until the pipeline is installed and being tested.

“As far as meeting with emergency responders, we’ll be doing that much, much earlier so they’ll be prepared,” Scott said.

Williams Field Services

Williams Field Services LLC has already constructed the approximately 33.5-mile Springville Gathering pipeline that runs fromSpringvilleTownship,SusquehannaCountytoDallasTownship.

The line, designed to bring natural gas from wells to market by way of the Transco – which is owned by Williams’ parent company – is already connected. All that remains is to build a metering station at a site onLower Demunds Roadto measure the amount of gas going into the Transco. Williams received permission from theDallasTownshipzoning hearing board for it on Thursday.

Williams forged an agreement withDallasTownshipofficials in August to limit the station to bare-bones components including a gas measuring meter and a “pig receiver,” used in cleaning out pipelines. The other components, such as the 100-foot communication tower, tanks for adding odorant to the gas, a flare for burning off the gas and a tank for storing water removed from the gas, were moved to another site offSchoolhouse RoadinNorthmoreland Township,WyomingCounty.

Williams spokesman Helen Humphreys said work on theDallasTownshipmetering station will begin in spring or summer.

TheNorthmorelandTownshipportion is already complete.

Humphreys said Williams believes communication is important, and does provide information to residents.

The exception was on New Year’s Day when the company pressure-tested and “pigged” the pipelines to clean them afterwards, in preparation for the Transco tap. Residents on nearby Fair Grounds Road were alarmed by the strange noises and some noticed a smell of gas, which made them nervous.

“There was an error there. People should have been notified and they were not,” Humphreys said.