Gas Transmission Northwest
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Gas Transmission Northwest is an operating natural gas pipeline.[1]
Location
The pipeline runs from Kingsgate, British Columbia, to Malin, Oregon.
Project details
- Operator: TC PipeLines, L.P.[1][2]
- Owner: TC Energy[1]
- Capacity: 2900 million cubic feet per day[1]
- Length: 2177.44 kilometers / 1,353 miles[1]
- Status: Operating[1]
- Start year: 1961[1]
Background
Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) is a 1,353 mile-long natural gas pipeline built in 1961 with a capacity of 2,900 million cubic feet per day.[1] It brings gas from Alberta, Canada, beginning at Kingsgate, British Columbia and passing through Washington and terminates at Malin, Oregon then connecting to California, connecting to the Pacific Gas and Electric system.[1]
Prior to being purchased in 2004 by TC Energy (formerly known as TransCanada Corporation), the pipeline was named Pacific Gas Transmission.[3] TC Energy subsequently sold 25 percent of its interest in GTN to TC PipeLines, LP, which connects via the Tuscarora Gas Pipeline.[3] GTN's FERC code is 86.[3]
Expansion Projects
GTN XPress
In November 2019 TC Energy proposed expanding the pipeline's capacity by 250 million cubic feet per day, with a completion date of 2023.[4] The project will increase imports into Canada via Kingsgate, Idaho, USA.[5]
As of mid-2022, the developers had applied to FERC for approval.[5] The application asks FERC's permission to retrofit the existing pipeline to increase its capacity to "serve the growing market demand its system is experiencing." This would include an upgrade to four compressor stations located in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. These upgrades would increase pressure and transport more gas through the system.[6][7]
On 26 July 2023, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden sent a letter to FERC following up on previous requests to reject approval for this expansion project.[8] Climate activists allege that the expansion would result in 3.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and generate a social cost of around $12 billion.[9][10] The project would lock the northwest into depending on expensive fossil fuel energy for decades. The expansion is inconsistent with Washington's and Oregon's targets to reduce emissions by 95% and 80%, respectively, by 2050.[11]
- Operator: TC Energy, TC PipeLines, L.P.
- Owner: TC Energy[1]
- Parent company: TC Energy
- Capacity: 150 MMcf/d[5]
- Length: 0 new mi
- Status: Proposed[5]
- Start year: 2023[5]
- Cost: US$335 million[5]
Opposition
In July 2023, opponents of GTN Xpress – including the governors of Washington, Oregon, and California – accused TC Energy and other utilities involved for using faulty projections of rising demand to justify the GTN Xpress project. The attorneys general of all three states have formally asked FERC to reject the proposal. TC Energy would avoid extensive environmental permitting processes by upgrading compressor stations along the 60 year old GTN pipeline than building a new one.[12]
In a draft environmental impact statement released by FERC in June 2022, the completion of the GTN Xpress would enable addition of 3.24 million metric tons of CO2 per year to the atmosphere. This number was lowered to 1.9 million metric tons in the final environmental impact statement released five months later. FERC excluded the impact of Tormaline's portion of the project, stating that since the Tourmaline is a Canadian producer and it’s not clear who they will sell the gas to, the emissions “are not reasonably foreseeable."[12]
Opponents of the proposed project fear that FERC will approve the project in all likelihood.[12]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 About Gas Transmission Northwest LLC, TransCanada, accessed January 2018
- ↑ "Company Page". criterionrsch.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Gas Transmission Northwest, Wikipedia, accessed January 2018
- ↑ TC PipeLines LP announces GTN XPress to enhance market access for growing WCSB supply and allow additional market penetration along GTN’s system, Globe Newswire, Nov. 1, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Natural Gas, Pipeline Projects, Energy Information Administration, accessed July 12, 2021
- ↑ "https://pstrust.org/why-the-gtn-xpress-expansion-project-isnt-safe/".
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ↑ "Federal Register :: Request Access". federalregister.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ↑ "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/merkley-wyden-urge-ferc-to-reject-fossil-gas-pipeline-expansion".
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ↑ "US energy regulator greenlights gas pipeline expansion across Northwest". The Missoula Current News - Daily News in Missoula Montana. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ↑ Ally Nguyen (2022-08-22). "Western State Attorneys General Seek to Halt Capacity Expansion of GTN Pipeline - Oregon Department of Justice". Oregon Department of Justice. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ↑ "Stop GTN Xpress". Rogue Climate. Retrieved 17 August, 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|access-date=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Nick Cunningham (2023-07-20). "Proposed Pipeline Expansion Could Upend Three States' Climate Plans". DeSmog. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
Related GEM.wiki articles
External resources
External articles
Wikipedia also has an article on Northwest Gas Transmission Pipeline (Gas Transmission Northwest). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].
