The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Columbia Gas Transmission LLC permission to extend regular construction work hours on part of its 2.7-Bcf/d Mountaineer XPress natural gas expansion project.
The commission's approval allows the Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. company to continue construction activities for 24 hours a day, seven days per week, at a drill crossing under an interstate highway on the project route. The extended work hours will last about 70 days. Columbia Gas applied for the project in April 2016. Columbia Pipeline Group is part of TransCanada Corp. (FERC docket CP16-357)
In its June 1 request for the construction variance, Columbia Gas had asked FERC for permission to work the extended hours to meet contractual service obligations. The company also said the extended hours would "reduce the overall length of construction and impact to the landowners." FERC granted the authorization in part because horizontal directional drilling cannot stop once it has started to avoid collapse and other problems, according to commission spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen.
In February, Columbia Gas received permission from FERC for additional work hours on the project at certain compressor station sites.
Columbia Gas originally estimated Mountaineer XPress would cost over $2 billion. In an April 27 earnings call, TransCanada executives said costs for Mountaineer XPress and other pipeline projects had increased because of regulatory delays, a high demand for construction resources, and modifications to contractor work plans to maintain in-service dates. The executives expected Mountaineer XPress, WB XPress and Gulf XPress to enter service by the end of 2018 at a combined investment of about $4.5 billion.
The Mountaineer XPress project, which FERC authorized in late December 2017, is designed to deliver gas to a Columbia Gulf Transmission LLC interconnect in Kentucky and to Columbia Gas' TCO Pool hub. The project, which includes over 170 miles of new pipeline, will provide service from receipt points in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Along with Columbia Gulf's Gulf XPress project, which the commission authorized for service in March, the Mountaineer XPress expansion will provide incremental gas transportation capacity between the Northeast and the Gulf Coast.
