[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 91 (Thursday, May 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23905-23906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-11773]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. CP01-176-000, CP01-177-000, CP01-178-000, CP01-179-000]
Georgia Straits Crossing Pipeline LP.; Notice of Applications
May 4, 2001.
Take notice that on April 24, 2001, Georgia Straits Crossing
Pipeline LP (GSX), P.O. 58900, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84158-0900, filed
in Docket No. CP01-176-000 an application pursuant to Section 7(c) of
the Natural Gas Act for authorization to construct and operate a new
interstate natural gas transmission system consisting of approximately
47 miles of related pipeline and related facilities in the state of
Washington; in Docket No. CP01-177-000 an application for a blanket
certificate authorizing Part 284 transportation; in Docket No. CP01-
178-000 an application for a blanket certificate authorizing certain
routine activities under Subpart F of Part 157; and in Docket No. CP01-
179-000 an application for Section 3 siting authorization for export/
import facilities and a Presidential Permit authorizing the
construction, operation and maintenance of interconnect facilities for
imports and exports at two locations on the US/Canadian international
border, all as more fully set forth in the application on file with the
Commission and open to public inspection. This filing may be viewed on
the web at http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222
for assistance).
GSX proposes the construct: (1) a 10,302 horsepower (ISO rated)
compressor station at Cherry Point, Whatcom County, Washington, located
adjacent to an existing industrial area approximately a mile from the
Strait of Georgia shoreline; (2) approximately 32 miles of 20-inch
pipeline generally paralleling existing pipeline corridors from Sumas
to the proposed Cherry Point compressor station; (3) approximately 15
miles of 16-inch pipeline from the Cherry Point compressor station to
an offshore interconnect with a Canadian pipeline proposed to be built
by GSX Canada Limited Partnership (GSX-Canada) from that interconnect
to a delivery point into the distribution system of Central Gas British
Columbia Inc. on Vancouver Island; (4) receipt point meter station
facilities interconnecting with Westcoast Energy Inc. at the Canadian
border and with Northwest Pipeline Corporation, both near Sumas; and
(5) appurtenant facilities. GSX estimates the total cost of the
proposed facilities at approximately $90.7-million.
GSX states that the initial firm design capacity of its system will
be approximately 94,000 Dth per day. It is indicated that as a result
of an open season, Powerex Corporation (Powerex), an affiliate of
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC hydro), executed a
binding precedent agreement for all of the initial certificated design
capacity for a 30-year term, at negotiated rates. GSX avers that
Powerex requires the capacity to meet the obligations of BC Hydro to
supply natural gas fuel to two new generating plants on Vancouver
Island. Further, GSX states that its system is designed to facilitate
relatively inexpensive expansions, by compression upgrades, to
accommodate future market growth on Vancouver Island and in
northwestern Washington state.
GSX states that its proposal and that of GSX-Canada comprise the
international Georgia Strait Crossing Project. GSX indicates that
pursuant to the GSC Project Agreement between GSX and its sponsor,
Williams Gas Pipeline Company (Williams), and GSX-Canada and its
sponsor, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro), the
owners have agreed to coordinate certain decisions regarding the
construction and operation of GSX and GSX-Canada through a GSX
Committee. GSX also states that subject to the owners and through the
GSX Committee on matters within the committee's purview, GSX Operating
Company, L.L.C., an wholly owned subsidiary of Williams, will design
and engineer, manage the procurement and construction, operate and
maintain and manage the day-to-day business affairs of both GSX and
GSX-Canada pipeline, as a contractor for the owners.
GSX proposes a pro forma Tariff which includes its proposed Rate
Schedules FT-1 for firm service and IT-1 for interruptible service. GSX
proposes traditional cost-of-service based rates for its initial
recourse rates. GSX states that its proposed rates reflect a 70% debt,
30% equity capital structure, 8% interest on debt, 14% return on equity
and a 30 year depreciation life. GSX avers that its proposed rates are
designed under the straight fixed variable methodology using a
quantity/distance cost allocation to establish rates for two zones, one
for mainland U.S. delivers and one for deliveries to GSX-Canada. GSX
also states that the proposed initial recourse maximum daily
reservation rates are $0.36546 per Dth of contract demand for service
to mainland U.S. points and
[[Page 23906]]
$0.51233 per Dth of contract demand for service to the GSX-Canada
interconnect.
GSX requests that the Commission issue a preliminary determination
on the non-environmental aspects of the application by January 31, 2002
and a final order granting the requested certificate authorization by
May 31, 2002 so that the project may be completed by the late October
2003 in-service date required to ensure Powerex's ability to meet the
long-tern gas supply commitments of BC Hydro to the new electricity
generation facilities on Vancouver Island.
Any questions regarding the application should be directed to Gary
K. Kotter, Manger, Certificates, GSX Pipeline, L.L.C., P.O. Box 58900,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84158-0900, (801) 584-7117.
There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of
this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by
becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or
before May 25, 2001, file with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20426, a motion to
intervene in accordance with the requirements of the Commission's Rules
of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211) and the
Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party
status will be place on the service list maintained by the Secretary of
the Commission and will receive copies of all documents filed by the
applicant and by all other parties. A party must submit 14 copies of
filings made with the Commission and must mail a copy to the applicant
and to every other party in the proceeding.
Only parties to the proceeding can ask for court review of
Commission orders in the proceeding.
However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have
comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with
the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and
two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project.
The Commission will consider these comments in determining the
appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will
not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding.The Commission's
rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project
provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly
involved in the protest.
Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of
this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments
to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commenters will be
placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive
copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings
associated with the Commission's environmental review process.
Environmental commenters will not be required to serve copies of filed
documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commenters will
not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by
the Commission (except for the mailing of environmental documents
issued by the Commission) and will not have the right to seek court
review of the Commission's final order.
The Commission may issue a preliminary determination on non-
environmental issues prior to the completion of its review of the
environmental aspects of the project. The preliminary determination
typically considers such issues as the need for the project and its
economic effect on existing customers of the applicant, on other
pipelines in the area, and on landowners and communities. For example,
the Commission considers the extent to which the applicant may need to
exercise eminent domain to obtain rights-of-way for the proposed
project and balances that against the non-environmental benefits to be
provided by the project. Therefore, if a person has comments on
community and landowner impacts form this proposal, it is important
either to file comments or to intervene as early in the process as
possible.
Also, comments protests, and interventions may be filed
electronically via the internet in lieu of paper. See, CFR
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's web site
at http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm.
If the Commission decides to set the application for a formal
hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, the Commission will issue
another notice describing that process. At the end of the Commission's
review process, a final Commission order approving or denying a
certificate will be issued.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-11773 Filed 5-9-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M