By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 25 -- Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC has begun construction of its 182-mile, 30-in. natural gas pipeline across the Southern Tier and lower Hudson Valley areas of New York.
Construction will continue during the next 2 years, with some restoration work extending into 2009. The pipeline is scheduled to begin service Nov. 1, 2008. It will serve markets along its route and will provide essential service to the New York City markets through its pipeline interconnections.
The project initially was expected to be commissioned late this year, but the in-service date was pushed back due to project delays (OGJ Online, July 17, 2006).
Phase 1 of the project will transport 500 MMcfd of gas from the Dawn, Ont., trading hub and several supply and storage basins. It includes the upgrade of a 186-mile Corning-Ramapo, NY, pipeline section on Millennium, which will replace an existing line of Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. (CGT), and an 83-mile extension of the 24-in. Empire system from a point near Rochester to Corning, NY. Empire connects to the TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. system at Chippawa on the US-Canada border.
The Millennium Pipeline is anchored by its customers KeySpan Energy Delivery Long Island, Consolidated Edison of New York, CGT, and Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. It is jointly owned by affiliates of NiSource Inc., KeySpan Corp., and DTE Energy.