East Tennessee Natural Gas LLC’s (ETNG) Ridgeline natural gas pipeline system expansion received a positive draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) that cited the benefits of reducing coal-fired generation.
The Enbridge Inc. subsidiary would add a 122-mile pipeline for 300,000 Dth/d of firm transportation capacity along the Ridgeline system through eight Tennessee counties. The additional natural gas supply would flow to Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant where the federal public power company plans to retire coal-fired units by 2027.
In a DEIS, FERC staff did not characterize the project’s greenhouse gas emissions “as significant or insignificant.” However, staff noted that the net reduction in emissions from TVA’s proposed gas plant “would be approximately 194 times larger in magnitude” relative to the pipeline project’s operational emissions.
ETNG sanctioned the Ridgeline expansion in September and is expected to be in-service by November 2026. That would be in time for TVA to replace coal-fired generation at the Kingston plant with 1,500 MW of natural gas-fired capacity in 2027. TVA approved the plan to switch Kingston from coal to gas in April, along with new solar capacity and battery storage.
The Ridgeline expansion would include a 14,600 hp compression station in Hartsville, TN, and new or modified stations to receive supply from Columbia Gulf Transmission Station LLC, Texas Eastern Transmission LP and Midwestern Gas Transmission Co.
In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revised its policy for natural gas infrastructure to include assessments of climate change impacts, despite pushback from industry and some commissioners.
FERC is accepting comments on the DEIS through July 15.
