Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy first announced an unnamed pipeline project to shuttle gas from the Marcellus/Utica to New England in July 2014 (see Spectra Energy to the Rescue! New England Pipeline Expansion). In September 2014 Spectra announced they had named the project Access Northeast and added Northeast Utilities–now called Eversource Energy–as a partner (see Spectra Energy New England Pipeline Gets a Name & a Partner). In December 2014, Spectra formed an alliance with a competitor, the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline, to further extend the reach of the project (see Spectra Energy Alliance with Iroquois to Sell Marcellus Gas to NE). The project is pegged to cost around $3 billion and will connect four different pipeline systems: Texas Eastern, Algonquin Gas Transmission, Iroquois and Maritimes & Northeast. Kinder Morgan’s competing project, Northeast Energy Direct, dropped out of the running (see NED is Dead – Kinder Morgan Suspends $3.3B New England Pipeline). Spectra stayed in–but was dealt a body blow by Massachusetts (see MA Supreme Court Ruling Endangers New England Gas Pipelines). But Spectra committed to pushing forward anyway (see Spectra Spits in MA High Court’s Eye – We’ll Still Build Pipeline). Now comes another body blow: New Hampshire regulators are following MA’s lead in not allowing utility company Eversource pass along some of the costs of the pipeline to electric rate payers…
Read More “NH Regulators Veto Access Northeast Pipeline Contract”

Fantastic news for overabundant supplies of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas: Spectra Energy has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to open the valves on their Texas Eastern Transmission Gulf Markets Expansion Project. The project will shuttle supplies of natural gas from the northeast, along with supplies from Texas, to “meet the needs of demand growth in the power, industrial and LNG export sectors particularly in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana and Texas.” Spectra began construction for the Gulf Markets Expansion Project in February. Construction will come in two stages, with the first stage targeted to go online in November. Spectra got done early and has asked for permission to begin operations at several compressor stations. More than half of the eventual 650,000 decatherms per day of new capacity along the Texas Eastern pipeline will come in the northeast, moving Marcellus/Utica gas to the Gulf Coast. Marcellus drillers EQT and Range Resources are signed up to ship gas along the expanded-capacity pipeline. Facilities along the pipeline have been or are being upgraded in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Here’s more about the project…
Read More “Spectra Ready to Open Valve on Expanded Pipeline from NE to Gulf”

Two weeks ago the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (MA’s highest court) ruled that utility companies, which are heavily regulated and the prices they can charge controlled, cannot pass along the cost of a pipeline to electric ratepayers (see MA Supreme Court Ruling Endangers New England Gas Pipelines). The ruling had the effect of ending contracts from several utility companies with Spectra Energy for their Access Northeast pipeline–to bring Marcellus/Utica natural gas to critically starved-for-gas New England. We speculated at the time that this action may end the Access Northeast project. But a week later, Spectra Energy committed to continuing the project (see Spectra Spits in MA High Court’s Eye – We’ll Still Build Pipeline). However, regional natgas distribution companies, along with LNG importer GDF Suez, continues to try and sink the Access Northeast project for selfish reasons–to suppress competition that would come from the pipeline. It’s all wrapped up in a “tariff” case now before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It’s complicated, but we’ll try and explain it in lay terms. At the root of the issue is that some existing natgas suppliers in New England benefit from lack of supply in the region (including Engie Gas & LNG, NextEra Energy Resources and PSEG). They benefit from “congestion” and lack of supply in New England–therefore Spectra has taken to calling them “Congestionaters” in their filings with FERC. We call them the Terminators…
Read More “Spectra Energy Pushes Back Against New England Pipeline Naysayers”