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New pipeline key to Arizona’s energy future

NEAR PRESCOTT — A 284-mile-long pipeline that soon could be delivering 500 million cubic feet of natural gas energy throughout Arizona and parts of New Mexico may be partially operational by this summer and fully functional by the end of the year.

The pipeline will deliver energy to users throughout central and southern Arizona. A large portion will run through ranch lands in Yavapai County and snake southward around Phoenix toward Gila Bend before turning east toward Coolidge.

The pipeline will deliver energy to a number of smaller additional users but also to nine primary providers, including the Redhawk and Sundance power plants, which are operated by Arizona Public Service Co.

“It’s strategically designed to meet capacity needs for some time in the future and to add to Arizona’s mix of resources some features like gas storage that weren’t there in the past,” says Arizona Corporation Commission member Jeff Hatch-Miller, a Scottsdale Republican.

Heavy use of natural gas has been part of the nation’s recent energy evolution, Hatch-Miller says. Congress once frowned upon the use of natural gas, a cleaner-burning yet non-renewable form of energy, because of concerns about the supply.

But after less government regulations came to the energy industry, Congress changed its stance. Hatch-Miller, who has worked on several pipeline issues as a commissioner, says natural gas is practically endorsed as a source of electricity these days.

This month, construction on the pipeline expansion project is scheduled to begin, even as the company building it finishes acquiring the necessary land. Transwestern has acquired all but six acres needed for the project, company spokesman John Ambler says.

Those two remaining parcels will be acquired by eminent domain – the process by which land is condemned for a public use and a fair price is negotiated, sometimes in court.

“In this particular case, they weren’t able to obtain an easement from the landowners. The strong preference is to do this amicably, rather than trying to use any kind of eminent domain,” Ambler says. “There are other tracks along the pipeline route that may make eminent domains filings necessary, but it’s handfuls of tracks. It’s not a huge number. We’re still trying to resolve most of them. I don’t know how many filings are likely.”

Since November, Houston-based Transwestern has been multiple legal actions in federal court in Tucson seeking permanent easements on 132 parcels from Yavapai County to points south. Four more cases were filed in January. Yavapai County supervisor Carol Springer declined to comment.

Pipeline helps peaking needs

Arizona residents’ increasing energy demands and concerns over global warming are the two factors driving development of the pipeline, Hatch-Miller says.

Over the past decade, Arizona’s overall consumption of natural gas has tripled, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration, which tracks energy consumption throughout the U.S. Most of the natural gas consumed in Arizona goes toward producing electricity. And in the Valley, it represents more than half of the electricity produced by APS, which also operates Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

The pipeline will add more capacity for Arizona’s future needs instead of those in California, who have traditionally been the largest consumers of the gas line crossing northern Arizona. The new line will give Arizonans a competitive advantage, a state corporation commission spokeswoman says.
The environmental effects are also a consideration, Hatch-Miller says. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal, so it helps Arizona address global warming concerns.

“Everyone who’s using electricity seems to be increasing their usage per person,” Hatch-Miller says. “If we want to have a robust electric grid and have the energy necessary for modern society, natural gas is pretty much the dominant player right now.”

Hatch-Miller adds that extending building setbacks from the new pipeline will help the public answer concerns about safety in case of a rupture or explosion.

“Most communities and most neighborhoods are not focused on the benefit to themselves and the state that they derive (from the pipeline’s electricity), but it usually doesn’t interfere too much with the community, and they’re accepting of it,” Hatch-Miller says.

“They’re always concerned with a gas pipeline explosion or some kind of a gas leak. These are going to be built with the highest, new, state-of-the-art standard and be plenty deep under the Earth. While no man-made machine is 100 percent foolproof, these are going to be inspected dozens of times before they’re even allowed to have natural gas in them.”

Bonus points for pipeline

The pipeline has a few other benefits. The pipeline will also deliver natural gas to a facility near Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix. The storage facility can be tapped during peak demands and help avoid power outages, Hatch-Miller says.

The expansion project also provides a second pipeline company for the heart of Arizona as an alternative to El Paso Natural Gas Co., which has had a relative monopoly on pipeline service through Arizona for years, Arizona Corporation Commission spokeswoman Rebecca Wilder said in an email. She said this could help lower costs for Arizona consumers.

And finally, the new pipeline’s added capacity could help Arizona consumers cushion themselves in case California demand surges again and natural gas supplies from other sources, such as Canada, start dwindling.

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