FERC gave Texas Eastern Transmission LP the green light to begin constructing three natural gas projects providing 622,000 Dth/d of supply to Midwest and Southeastern markets from the Appalachian Basin.

A Jan. 19 FERC letter informed the company it can start building part of the Access South, Adair Southwest and Lebanon Extension projects. The Spectra Energy Partners LP subsidiary's projects, totaling $442 million, are intended to provide bidirectional flow capability on Texas Eastern's mainline system from Pennsylvania to markets in Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi.

The commission authorized construction to begin on 15.8 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline and related infrastructure in Athens, Meigs, Noble and Monroe counties in Ohio and 0.5 mile of 16-inch-diameter replacement pipeline in Attala County, Miss. The construction approval also allows for modifications to be made at nine compressor stations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi.

FERC issued a certificate order for the projects Dec. 21, 2016. The three projects were grouped together by FERC since they would share the same receipt point in Pennsylvania and would be built during the same construction season.

The rest of the project cannot be built until Texas Eastern has filed a separate request for construction activities. The remainder of the project includes modifications at the Berne compressor station in Monroe County; the Gladeville compressor station in Wilson County, Tenn.; and the Danville compressor station in Lincoln County, Ky.

One of the commission's conditions of the projects' approval is for the projects to be available for service by Dec. 21, 2018. (FERC docket CP16-3)