The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently issued an order approving the issuance of a certificate for a pipeline project that will supply natural gas to a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant.
The April 2 order [Docket Nos. CP23-516-000 CP23-516-001] responds to a July 2023 application submitted by East Tennessee Natural Gas, LLC to construct and operate new pipeline and compression facilities in Tennessee (Ridgeline Expansion Project).
The Ridgeline Expansion Project will provide up to 300,000 Dth/d of firm transportation service and 95,000 Dth of Customized Delivery Service for TVA to support a new natural-gas-fired power plant in Morgan County, Tennessee.
TVA plans to retire nine coal-fired units at the Kingston Plant site beginning in 2026 and construct and operate a new 1,500-megawatt natural-gas-fired combined cycle power plant, in addition to a solar array facility and battery storage system.
The proposed project will allow TVA to access supplies from Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Midwestern Gas Transmission Company; and Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC to meet incremental demand.
Specifically, East Tennessee proposed to construct the following facilities:
• An approximately 110-mile-long, 30-inch-diameter mainline pipeline and an approximately 4-mile-long, 30-inch-diameter header pipeline in Trousdale, Smith, Jackson, Putnam, Overton, Fentress, and Morgan Counties, Tennessee (together, Mainline);
• An approximately 8-mile-long, 30-inch-diameter lateral pipeline in Morgan and Roane Counties, Tennessee;
• Three new crossovers from the new Mainline to East Tennessee’s existing Line 3100-1 in Jackson, Fentress, and Morgan Counties, Tennessee;
• A new compressor station in Trousdale County, Tennessee, with two centrifugal compressor packages driven by electric motor drives rated at 7,300 horsepower each (for a total of 14,600 ISO-rated horsepower), and each coupled with natural gas turbine drivers and related appurtenances (Hartsville Compressor Station);
• An 8 MW alternating current solar array in Trousdale County, Tennessee, to partially power the Hartsville Compressor Station;
• A new meter and regulating station to receive gas from Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC in Trousdale County, Tennessee;
• Modifications to two existing meter and regulating stations to receive gas from Texas Eastern Transmission, LP and Midwestern Gas Transmission Company in Trousdale County, Tennessee;
• A new delivery meter station to measure gas delivered to the Kingston Plant in Morgan County, Tennessee; and
• Related appurtenances
East Tennessee estimates that the project will cost approximately $1,105,000,000.
East Tennessee executed a precedent agreement with TVA for 100% of the project’s capacity under East Tennessee’s Rate Schedule FT-A.
After executing the precedent agreement, East Tennessee held an open season and reverse open season from May 20, 2022, to June 17, 2022, and received no additional requests for capacity or offers to relinquish capacity.
East Tennessee sought FERC authorization to implement a new Customized Delivery Service feature in Rate Schedule FT-A and a new balancing service to support the Customized Delivery Service under Rate Schedule LMS-MA-2.
The proposed Customized Delivery Service is a no-notice service that will enable TVA to flexibly access an additional 95,000 Dth of capacity on East Tennessee’s system. This service will enable TVA to access enhanced deliveries of natural gas quantities on an hourly and daily basis, allowing TVA to quickly ramp up generation to meet demand.
East Tennessee requested authorization to charge initial incremental recourse reservation and usage rates under Rate Schedule FT-A.
To the extent that TVA is not utilizing its firm service, East Tennessee proposes to make this capacity available on a secondary basis to firm system shippers and on an interruptible basis under its existing Rate Schedule IT.
East Tennessee also requested authorization to charge an initial incremental fuel and loss retention percentage, and an initial incremental electric power charge for service on the project.
In issuing a certificate of public convenience and necessity to East Tennessee, authorizing it to construct and operate the proposed Ridgeline Expansion Project, FERC set a number of conditions that East Tennessee must meet.
