Once complete, the PNG Looping project will do something no other natural gas pipeline in this region will do: lower our rates.
But that will be years off, as Pacific Northern Gas (PNG) is early in the review process for their proposed project, which will effectively twin their existing pipeline from Summit Lake.
The company held an open house last Tuesday, part of their process with the Environmental Assessment Office to gather what information will be needed in their eventual environmental review submission.
So far the company has just submitted a project description, which is what tells the EAO whether or not a project triggers an environmental review.
Bill Manery is the project manager and spoke of the project to the Sentinel.
He explained the proposed route will start at Summit Lake where their existing line meets Spectra Energy’s line, and will parallel PNG’s existing route until the Telkwa Pass. Instead of sharing the existing route through there the pipe veers north around the mountains before heading south into Kitimat.
The Telkwa Pass, he said, is just not ideal for construction.
“There have been issues in the past, we’re anticipating there could very well issues in the future...we just don’t want to go back in there,” said Manery.
PNG has two primary customers they are aiming to serve with their new capacity.
One, Douglas Channel Energy, is a co-operative which plans to establish a floating liquefaction facility on the Douglas Channel.
Manery said that project will actually take up the unused capacity on PNG’s existing line. With a twinned lined with all its capacity claimed by residential customers and industrial proponents, the transportation cost for our home natural gas will drop, added Manery.
There is a second LNG proposal the pipeline would serve as well but Manery didn’t provide details on what that company is.
“There is one other project,” “It’s less developed. It’s a consortium, but it’s a second project of about the same size,” he said.
While that consortium is also looking at Prince Rupert, “We think it’s probably going to be Kitimat.”
People can comment on PNG’s project during this Application Information Requirements (AIR) process, which runs to January 2.
The Environmental Assessment Office website is at www.eao.gov.bc.ca.