Planned Natural Gas Line to Cross Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties

Local municipalities taking the steps to meet the demands of the major growth coming to the Panhandle of Florida. Great job to all concern. I hope this news gets widely disseminated to demonstrate the committment by our local governments to think ahead. But don't stop hear, the word on the street is the folks coming are looking for more, such as, better housing, shopping, medical care, and much more.

Planned natural gas line to cross Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton
When completed, it will bring 820 million more cubic feet of natural gas to Florida
By DUSTY RICKETTS Florida Freedom Newspapers 315-4448 dustyr@nwfdailynews.com

Florida’s portion of a 5,000-mile natural gas pipeline across five states could soon undergo a $2.45 billion expansion. Florida Gas Transmission Co. filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late last month to add 483 miles of pipe in the state to increase the amount of natural gas that can be provided. The project would include laying an additional pipeline in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. “The population continues to increase and the need for additional power continues to grow as people have more computers and more televisions, and those things stay on all the time,” said John Barnett, director of external affairs for the Southern Union Co., part owner of Florida Gas Transmission. “About 85 percent of the natural gas that gets consumed in Florida is used to generate electricity. Most of our customers are local utility companies.” Florida Gas Transmission hopes to start construction in early 2010. Barnett said the company hopes the new pipeline is up and running by the spring of 2011. Construction is not expected to interfere with existing pipelines. The pipeline runs from south Texas across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. It delivers 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. The proposed extension would would pump an additional 820 million cubic feet of natural gas to Florida daily. Much of the extra gas — 400 million cubic feet — will be used by Florida Power and Light for new power plants, Barnett said. “We do project that Florida will need that amount of gas,” he said. Utility companies already have reserved about 90 percent of the additional fuel. In addition to building the new pipeline in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties, a compressor station in Santa Rosa will be upgraded.