Federal regulators gave their final approval Thursday for the western portion of a $4.4 billion natural gas pipeline project led by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP that will bring fuel from the Rocky Mountains to markets in the Eastern United States.
“This is a significant investment in U.S. energy infrastructure,” Suedeen Kelly, a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said before the unanimous vote at an open meeting in Washington, D.C. “It will also help to enhance the competitiveness of our natural-gas markets.”
The project, known as Rockies Express, consists of three segments and upon completion will be 1,678 miles long. It’ll be able to send as much as 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas a day from Colorado to Ohio.
The figure for the pipeline system’s total mileage was increased Wednesday by 14 miles after terrain surveys, said Kinder Morgan Energy spokeswoman Emily Mir Thompson.
“In terms of capacity and length, it is the largest” new pipeline the commission has approved in recent years, said Jeff Wright, a commission staff member.
The first leg of the project, which was purchased in 2006, is already in service and runs 328 miles across Colorado. The western portion approved Thursday includes 713 miles of new pipeline from Colorado to Missouri that will be completed by next year. The eastern leg of the project may be finished in June 2009.
Kinder Morgan Energy, ConocoPhillips and Sempra Energy are partners in the project.
