Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For February 2011 

Page 1 of 5 

Natural Gas Highlights 

 Questar Overthrust placed its Loop Expansion Project into service in Uinta and Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming. 

The additional 800 MMcf/d of capacity will facilitate deliveries to Kern River and eventual deliveries to the 

proposed Ruby Pipeline. 

 ETC Tiger Pipeline received authorization to construct and operate facilities to increase throughput capacity by 

400 MMcf/d on its Tiger Pipeline system. The additional capacity is required to transport gas from the Haynesville 

Shale and Mid-Bossier Shale producing areas located in Northwest Louisiana and east Texas to Midwestern and 

Eastern markets. 

 Transco commenced the Commission’s pre-filing process for its Northeast Supply Line Project which will provide 

250 MMcf/d of capacity for transportation from supply interconnections in Pennsylvania to markets in and around 

New York City. 

 

Natural Gas Activities in February 2011 

Status No. of 

Projects 

Storage 

Capacity 

(Bcf) 

Deliverability 

(MMcf/d) 

Capacity 

(MMcf/d) 

Miles of 

Pipeline 

Compression 

(HP) 

Pipeline 

Placed in Service 1 800.0 43.3 0 

Certificated 1 400.0 20.5 30,565 

Proposed 1 250.0 39.4 36,000 

Storage 

Placed in Service 0 0 0 0 

Certificated 0 0 0 0 

Proposed 0 0 0 0 

LNG 

Placed in Service 0 0 0 0 

Certificated 0 0 0 0 

Proposed 0 0 0 0 

 Source: Staff Database 

Natural Gas Activities through February 28, 2011 

Through February 28, 2010 

Status No. of 

Projects 

Storage 

Capacity 

(Bcf) 

Deliverability 

(MMcf/d) 

Capacity 

(MMcf/d) 

Miles of 

Pipeline 

Compression 

(HP) 

Pipeline 

Placed in Service 

through February 28, 2010 

3 

3 

1,450 

3,376 

43.3 

190.1 

102,430 

39,990 

Certificated 

through February 28, 2010 

2 

3 

688 

1,087.5 

20.5 

3.4 

59,265 

49,471 

Storage 

Placed in Service 

through February 28, 2010 

0 

0 

0.0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Certificated 

through February 28, 2010 

0 

1 

0.0 

15.0 

0.0 

600 

0 

9,500 

LNG 

Placed in Service 

through February 28, 2010 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Certificated 

through February 28, 2010 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 Source: Staff Database 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For February 2011 

Page 2 of 5 

Hydropower Highlights 

 On February 1, 2011, Putnam Green Power, LLC, filed an application for a small hydropower exemption for the 

proposed 0.875-MW Cargill Falls Hydroelectric Project No. 13080. The project would be located on the 

Quinebaug River in the Town of Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut. 

 On February 4, 2011, Mr. David Creasey filed an application for a minor license for the proposed 0.0225-MW 

Creasey Hydropower Project No. 13829. The project would be located on Lincoln Creek and the Lincoln Creek 

Drainage Ditch on the Fort Hall Reservation in Fort Hall, Idaho. 

 On February 14, 2011, Whitman River Dam, Inc., filed an application for a small hydropower exemption for the 

proposed 0.145-MW Crocker Dam Hydroelectric Project No. 13237. The project would be located at the existing 

Crocker Dam on the Whitman River in the Town of Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. 

 On February 16, 2011, Andrew Peklo III filed an application for a small hydropower exemption for the proposed 

0.076-MW Pomperaug Hydro Project No. 12790. The project would be located at the existing Pomperaug River 

Dam on the Pomperaug River in the Town of Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. 

Hydropower Activities in February 2011 

Conventional Pumped Storage Hydrokinetic

Status

No. Capacity 

(MW) No. Capacity (MW) No. Capacity (MW) 

Total No. 

of Projects

Total 

Capacity 

(MW)

Filed 

License 1 0.0225 0 0 0 0 1 0.0225 

5-MW Exemption 3 1.096 0 0 0 0 3 1.096 

Capacity Amendment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Conduit Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Issued 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5-MW Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Capacity Amendment 2 6.494 0 0 0 0 2 6.494 

Conduit Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Placed in Service 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5-MW Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Capacity Amendment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Conduit Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 

Hydropower Activities Year to Date (through February 28, 2011) 

Conventional Pumped Storage Hydrokinetic

Status

No. Capacity 

(MW) No. Capacity (MW) No. Capacity (MW) 

Total No. 

of Projects

Total 

Capacity 

(MW)

Filed 

License 1 0.0225 0 0 0 0 1 0.0225 

5-MW Exemption 3 1.096 0 0 0 0 3 1.096 

Capacity Amendment 1 2.550 0 0 0 0 1 2.550 

Conduit Exemption 1 0.075 0 0 0 0 1 0.075 

Issued 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5-MW Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Capacity Amendment 4 12.544 0 0 0 0 4 12.544 

Conduit Exemption 1 0.200 0 0 0 0 1 0.200 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For February 2011 

Page 3 of 5 

Conventional Pumped Storage Hydrokinetic

Placed in Service 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5-MW Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Capacity Amendment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Conduit Exemption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Source: Staff Database 

Electric Generation Highlights 

 Wisconsin Power and Light Company began commercial operation of its Bent Tree Wind Farm Phase I in 

Freeborn County, Minnesota on February 7, 2011. Phase I consists of 122 1.65-MW wind turbines, totaling 200 

MW capacity of electricity, enough to power 50,000 homes. 

 The Idaho Wind Partners Project, which consists of eleven wind farms totaling 183 MW capacity came online in 

February, 2011. The Idaho Wind Project consists of 122 1.5-MW GE wind turbines, stretching across 10,000 

acres of active and idle farmlands. The electricity produced is contracted to Idaho Power for 20 years. 

 Ormat Technologies’ Puna Geothermal Venture on Hawaii Island has expanded its capacity in February 2011 by 

8-MW, totaling 42-MW. Puna Geothermal Venture has provided baseload power to the island's grid since 1993. 

The electricity generated is supplied to Hawaii Electric Light Company 

 Southern California Edison (SCE) has interconnected seven new distributed-generation solar plants on February 

1, 2011. The systems, located on more than 3.36 million square feet of ProLogis-owned warehouse roof space in 

the Southern California cities of Ontario and Redlands, have a combined installed generating capacity of 12.5 

MW. SCE plans to have 250 MW of commercial rooftop PV power deployed within the next four years. 

New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)

February 2011 January – February 2011 

Cumulative 

January – February 2010 

Cumulative 

Primary Fuel Type No. of 

Plants 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

No. of 

Plants 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

No. of 

Plants 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

Coal 0 0 3 615 4 1,319

Natural Gas 4 2 7 152 6 301

Nuclear 0 0 0 0 0 0

Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0

Water 0 0 4 1 2 1

Wind 19 613 22 728 17 92

Biomass 0 0 16 20 26 41

Geothermal Steam 1 8 1 8 0 0

Solar 12 19 20 59 3 4

Waste Heat 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 0 0 5 20 0 0

Total 36 642 78 1,602 58 1,759

Source: Data derived from Ventyx Global LLC, Velocity Suite. 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For February 2011 

Page 4 of 5 

Total Installed Operating Generation Capacity 

Primary Fuel Type Installed Capacity (GW) % of Total Capacity 

Coal 344.99 30.40% 

Natural Gas 461.71 40.69% 

Nuclear 108.33 9.55% 

Oil 61.13 5.39% 

Water 99.12 8.74% 

Wind 39.73 3.50% 

Biomass 13.38 1.18% 

Geothermal Steam 3.35 0.30% 

Solar 1.18 0.10% 

Waste Heat 0.82 0.07% 

Other 0.98 0.09% 

Total 1,134.72 100.00% 

Source: Data derived from Ventyx Global LLC, Velocity Suite. 

Electric Transmission Highlights 

 The Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) project, a joint venture of FirstEnergy and American 

Electric Power, is suspended. The $2 billion, 765-kV, 275-mile PATH project was originally proposed in 2007 to 

meet future reliability violations. Due to the economic downturn and the resulting decline in load forecast the 

original reliability violations concern have moved several years into the future. The PATH project would have 

been constructed from Putnam County, West Virginia to Frederick County, Maryland. 

 The final portion of the Brookings – Hampton transmission project was approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities 

Commission. The 345kV, 240-mile transmission line is part of the CapX2020 project being built by a group of 11 

utility companies. Construction on the Brookings-Hampton project is scheduled to begin in 2012 and to be 

completed in 2015, 

 PacifiCorp has awarded EC Source, a MasTec Inc. affiliate, a construction contract for the Mona-Oquirrh 

transmission line. The 345kV, 100 mile Mona-Oquirrh line is a part of the Gateway Central Project. Construction 

on the Mona-Oquirrh line is scheduled to start in 2011 and completed by June 2013. 

 The U.S. Department of Energy approved a $343 million loan guarantee for NV Energy and Great Basin 

Transmission LLC to develop the One Nevada Transmission Line or ON Line project. The 500kV, 235 mile ON 

Line project is estimated to cost $500 million to build and will connect the Harry Allen generating station to the 

Robinson Summit substation. The ON Line project is expected to be in-service by June 2013. 

Transmission Projects Completed Proposed Transmission Projects 

February 2011 February 2010 In-Service by 

Voltage (kV) February 2013 

Line Length (miles) 

≤230 69.1 8.8 6,604.6 

345 3.2 17.1 4,381.6 

500 0 0 4,469.5 

765 0 0 0 

Total U.S. 72.3 25.9 15,455.7 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For February 2011 

Page 5 of 5 

Projected Investment Cost of 

Transmission Projects with a Proposed 

In-Service Date by February 2013 

Transmission Projects with a Proposed 

In-Service Date by February 2013 

Transmission Projects Completed in 

February of 2010 and 2011 

Source: Data derived from Staff Database and U.S. Electric Transmission 

Projects ©2009 The C-Three Group, LLC 

Disclaimer: This Report contains analyses, presentations and conclusions 

that may be based on or derived from the data sources cited, but do not 

necessarily reflect the positions or recommendations of the data providers.