FERC has approved Florida Gas Transmission Company's $2.45 billion Phase VIII natural gas pipeline expansion project, which will transport gas to power plants throughout the Sunshine State.
The project will add more than 483 miles of pipeline and install one new compressor station. Florida Gas Transmission expects the first phase of the project to begin service by July 1 while the second phase is scheduled to start by April 1, 2011. The company will acquire the 22.7-mile Martin Lateral, a pipeline segment owned by Florida Power & Light Company.
The project will serve gas-fired power plants owned by Progress Energy Inc.'s Florida utility, Teco Energy's Tampa Electric, Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc., the Orlando Utilities Commission and the City of Tallahassee, FL.
FERC's approval comes weeks after Florida regulators denied FPL's proposal to build an underground gas pipeline, arguing that the project wasn't the most cost-effective and reliable way to bring gas to Florida.