Northwest Natural Gas Co. (NYSE: NWN) says it has found enough potential customers for an underground natural gas facility near Fresno, Calif., to proceed with its Gill Ranch Storage LLC project.
"There is the type of demand we anticipated, if not more," said Steve Sechrist, spokesman for the Portland-based gas utility.
As a prelude to filing an application to develop the 20-billion-cubic-foot storage facility with the California Public Utilities Commission, NW Natural and its partner, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. advertised the project in industry publications and solicited nonbinding declarations of interest from potential users.
The effort netted a "big hit," according to Sechrist, who said he couldn't identify the prospective customer.
NW Natural and PG&E plan to jointly develop the $150 million project with NW Natural taking a 75 percent ownership stake.
Having established that there is customer demand for underground gas storage, the development team will seek a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from California regulators this year. The certificate would allow construction of the facility, including the storage field, equipment and a 25-mile pipeline connecting it to PG&E's gas transmission network.
Permitting will take about a year and includes an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
If successful, it will enter contracts with customers later this year and begin construction in late 2009, with a scheduled opening date in late 2010.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment