The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently granted approval to Williams, a natural gas company based in Tulsa, Okla., for its Leidy South Project.
The project will connect natural gas produced by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Seneca Resources Co. in the Marcellus and Utica regions of Pennsylvania with markets on the Atlantic Seaboard. UGI Utilities will serve as the local distribution company.
The project is expected to serve the equivalent of more than 2.5 million homes, enable power plants to convert from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas, and produced an additional pipeline capacity of 582,400 dekatherms.
Transco is the nation’s largest-volume interstate natural gas pipeline system, delivering natural gas through approximately 10,000 miles of pipeline. The pipeline serves markets in 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states, including Pennsylvania.
The Leidy South Project will use the existing Transco transmission corridor while expanding its existing Pennsylvanian facilities. This will reduce the land required for the project as well as any new infrastructure.
“As the United States switches to clean power to energize our electric grids, Williams is excited and proud to be the backbone that connects the best supplies of dry gas with our country’s largest demand centers,” Alan Armstrong, Williams president and CEO, said. “This project represents one of many opportunities to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions with right here, right now available solutions as coal-fired electric generation plants are replaced with natural gas units to reliably balance the intermittency of new renewable resources. In fact, there remain more than 80 coal plants in the states Transco serves that can potentially be displaced by clean, efficient, and affordable natural gas.”
Williams will construct two greenfield compressor facilities. The facilities are expected to support 680 jobs in Pennsylvania, generate $1.3 million in state tax revenue and $100 million in economic activity, according to third-party researchers.
The United States has a large supply of natural gas. The fuel produces lower-emission of hydrocarbons compared to coal or heating oil and is better for the environment, the company said.
The project is expected to be completed by the 2021-22 winter heating season.