Pipeline Connecting CPV Energy Center in Wawayanda Moving Forward

WAWAYANDA—Millennium Pipeline Company has taken the next step to deliver natural gas to the CPV Energy Center under construction in Wawayanda.

In November 2015 Millennium Pipeline Company submitted an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct a new lateral pipeline, the Valley Lateral Project, intended to connect the company’s main line with the CPV Valley Energy Center set for completion in 2017.

Company spokesman Andrew Rush says project construction is estimated at $39.4 million. “Millennium will pay for the capital costs of the valley lateral project,” Rush wrote in an email.

The application to the Regulatory Commission covers water use, vegetation and wildlife, soil and land use, noise, and PCB contamination. A report on wetlands promises a 150-foot corridor on either side of the pipeline through any wetlands. The report identified 60 wetlands and bodies of water within the corridor—44 wetlands and 16 waterbodies.

A decision from the Regulatory Commission is expected in August when construction of the 7.8-mile section of 16-inch pipe between CPV and the hookup with the mainline in Minisink can begin. The pipeline is expected to be in service by April 2017.

When completed, the pipeline will affect about 54 acres of land, including a right-of-way, facilities, access roads, and pipeyards.

CPV will use natural gas transported on Millennium’s pipeline to produce electricity for an estimated 650,000 homes in the region. The company has proposed a route, but it will have to be approved by the Regulatory Commission.

Rush said the company works with agencies on the state level to develop a route with minimal impact on the region.

The submitted project proposes no additional construction or modification to the existing pipeline system.

Next Steps

A preliminary filing was made to the Regulatory Commission in May 2015 and during the summer and fall continued to develop the project and reach out to the community. The company offered the 75 local residents in Wawayanda who attended an open house on June 10 last year a chance to hear about the firm’s new project.

The open house explained a plan to install approximately eight miles of lateral pipeline between its mainline going through Orange County and the CPV Valley Energy Center in the town.

The pipeline will be constructed along other pipelines, electric transmission lines, and roadways. Based on the design submitted, about 23 percent of the new pipeline will be adjacent to existing rights-of-way.

The project crosses agricultural land, including hay, corn, and soybean fields and pasture, with some parts crossing woodland, wetlands, and bodies of water. Company documents maintain that “no unique, sensitive or protected vegetative communities have been identified in the Project area.”

Minisink Compressor Station

A compressor station is already working in Minisink, which helps to transport natural gas from one location to another. The gas in compressor stations is pressurized by turbines. In September 2014, the smell of gas prompted an emergency response in the vicinity of the station.

The company website describes the station as having two 6,130-horsepower gas-fired compressor units. The facility includes an auxiliary building, intake and exhaust silencers, turbine lube oil coolers, unit blow-down silencers, a filter-separator with a liquids tank, and an emergency electrical power generator. Pipeline facilities included approximately 545 feet of 36-inch diameter suction and discharge piping, and a new mainline valve assembly.

Millennium Pipeline is a New York‐based interstate natural gas pipeline serving the Northeast, according to company documents. The pipeline runs from Corning to Rockland County. Millennium is jointly owned by affiliates of NiSource Inc., National Grid, and DTE Energy.

Natural gas comes from several regions which makes it difficult to trace. Rush said that the company’s pipeline connects to several others—Empire Pipeline, Dominion Gas Transmission, Algonquin Pipeline, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Columbia Gas Pipeline, Stagecoach Gas Storage, and Pipeline and National Fuel, and some others in the state.

Rush says “gas received from interstate pipelines is generally sourced from numerous supply regions across several states, and even Canada. With many lines feeding the system, it not possible to track the exact origination of the gas it is transporting.” 

Millennium currently delivers gas to other intrastate pipelines, end users (i.e., power plants), and local distribution companies (LDC) in New York.  The local distribution companies deliver this gas to serve local municipalities.  Millennium LDC customers include National Grid, Consolidated Edison of New York, New York State Electric & Gas, Corning Natural Gas, Orange & Rockland, and Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which are all New York LDCs, Rush said.

CPV Valley Energy Center, jointly owned by Competitive Power Ventures headquartered in Maryland and Diamond Generating on the West Coast, is planned to be a $900 million, 650 megawatt (MW) natural gas-powered combined-cycle electric generating facility. Construction has already commenced with completion targeted for April 2017.

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