Project not a pipe dream: New gas line would help ease energy crisis

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

A new pipeline that would traverse several Western states and cost about $1.2 billion could supply generating plants with enough power to provide electricity to 10 million homes each day, an official with the company that is heading up the project said Tuesday.

The new pipeline would, for the most part, run parallel to an existing one, which runs from Wyoming to California and includes about 120 miles of pipe through Clark County. The existing pipeline is known as the Kern River line because of its terminus in California's Kern County.

Employees from the Williams company of Houston, which is leading the project, spoke Tuesday during an informational meeting at the Moapa Community Center in Moapa, a small community in northeast Clark County.

Williams employees said they are seeking early feedback from communities and landowners along the length of the 763-mile pipeline before making an official application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must grant approval.

Micheal Dunn, expansion project manager, said the pipeline can carry about 700 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Immediate engineering improvements to help alleviate the power shortage, particularly in energy-starved California, will come on line in July and increase the potential volume to 840 million cubic feet of gas per day.

But Dunn said construction of the more ambitious expansion project should be completed by May 2003 and would more than double the capacity to 1.74 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

Dunn said the need is driven by shortages of gas already affecting generating plants in California, as well as the expected construction of dozens of new plants in the Golden State and in Nevada in the next few years.

At least eight gas-fired plants planned for Clark County are moving through the local, state and federal permit process.

"All these power plants are going to be served by gas from our pipeline," Dunn said.

Other company employees see the local appetite for natural gas and energy production increasing.

"Las Vegas is becoming more of a market," said Larry Hartwick, Williams' district manager. "Las Vegas is our biggest single market.

"There are generating plants being permitted from Primm to Moapa."

Despite the plans for new plants in Nevada, most of the gas will go to California, he said.

The new twin pipeline -- a "loop" to company engineers -- would run parallel to the existing pipeline except for two areas: through the Wasatch Mountains north of Salt Lake City and underneath Las Vegas.

The existing pipeline runs underneath Summerlin, Dunn said. Tearing up the ground to lay a twin pipeline isn't possible. The pipeline would remain a single line from Centennial Boulevard past Hulapai Way.

"We're under 20 miles of pavement out there," he said.

More gas can be pumped through the existing pipeline in those areas by using modern engineering methods, he said.

Another meeting is scheduled tonight in Goodsprings, which, like Moapa, is affected by the company's plans to build the twin pipeline. A meeting wasn't scheduled for Las Vegas because the city won't be directly affected, Dunn said.

Dunn said efforts to win local and state government support, as well foster public understanding, have moved forward, partly because of the energy problems -- and the potential for blackouts -- that now threaten California and other areas of the West.

Nevada Power officials said they don't expect blackouts to hit Southern Nevada, but they haven't made any guarantees for this summer's high energy use.

Dunn said the pipeline would help stabilize skyrocketing energy bills.

The problem now, he said, is "there just isn't enough gas to go around." The Kern River pipeline was built in 1992, and it has been working near capacity since. The new plants will add to that demand.

Without increasing the amount of gas available for generating electricity, power generators will bid up the price of the fuel among themselves. Consumers will pay the ultimate cost, he said.

Dunn said his company already has 900 million cubic feet per day of purchase commitments -- the amount of the expansion -- from gas users.

Company officials said they expect federal approval for the plan -- and local and state support -- because of the need for more power and the clean, safe character of natural gas and the company's transportation network.

Still, the company will continue to conduct hearings and offer a public comment period so that officials can prepare an environmental impact statement for the federal government.

Not everyone is a fan of the project, however. Kirbey Bower, a Moapa resident, part-time farmer and heavy equipment operator, already has one pipeline running through the back of his property. He doesn't want another.

"I don't like it. It cuts the usability of my property," he said. "I'd like them to push it (the second pipeline) farther north, off my property."

Williams officials said they will look into the possibility, but weren't enthusiastic about the prospect. Under federal law they have the right of eminent domain for gas lines -- the company can simply take the land, paying a fair market share.

He said that if the company can get by with one line through Summerlin, it should be able to use one line through Moapa.

Bob Lewis, a farmer, developer and Moapa native, was another of a handful of residents who came to the meeting. He said the Williams company is "pretty good," but predicted opposition to the company's plan.

"We will all be in court," Lewis said. "That's where we will decide what's fair and what's not fair."