Williams : seeks FERC approval for Leidy South Project

Williams' Transco interstate pipeline filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking authorization for its Leidy South project, which is proposed to connect robust supplies of natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica producing regions in Pennsylvania with markets along the Atlantic Seaboard by the 2021-2022 winter heating season.

The $531 million Leidy South project will expand Transco's firm transportation capacity by 582,400 dekatherms per day. The project has a target in-service of Dec. 1, 2021.

Pennsylvania is the second-largest natural gas-producing state in the U.S., producing a record 6 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2018. While Pennsylvania produces record volumes of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure constraints continue to limit consumer access to the state's supplies. Our Leidy South project will help ease natural gas supply constraints, creating enough additional pipeline capacity to serve approximately 2.5 million homes and enabling power plants to convert from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas.

The Leidy South project is designed to minimize environmental impacts by maximizing the use of existing Transco pipeline infrastructure and rights of way in Pennsylvania. This includes 6.3 miles of existing pipe replacement, 5.9 miles of new pipeline loop segments along the existing Transco pipeline corridor, and horsepower additions at two existing compressor facilities. The project also will include two new greenfield compressor facilities in Pennsylvania.

According to third-party researchers, construction of the project's two greenfield compressor facilities is estimated to generate $100 million in economic activity within Pennsylvania, supporting 750 jobs with combined earnings of $28 million, and produce $1.3 million in state tax revenue.