Northern Border Pipeline Co. has filed for federal approval to extend its pipeline system 218 miles deeper into the Midwest, at a cost of $370 million. Sponsors say the project could be in service by November 1997. The proposed expansion will increase total pipeline capacity to 1.9 billion cubic feet per day, and would run southward from Harper, IA, to Manhattan, IL, carrying natural gas from Canada, the Williston Basin, and the Great Plains Coal Gasification Project.
Northern Border is seeking permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to use rolled-in rates, which would pass some of the construction costs to existing shippers and customers, not just new participants. Northern Border, a pipeline consortium, currently transports 22 percent of all Canadian gas imported into the United States, and about 55 percent of all Canadian gas consumed in the Midwest. Its chief competitor is Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL), which serves the Midwest, including the City of Chicago. NGPL has fought Northern Border's expansion proposal for years. (em LG
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