Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For May 2011 

Page 1 of 5 

Natural Gas Highlights 

 Denali withdrew its pre-filing request to construct and operate an Alaska pipeline due to lack of customer support 

needed to continue advancing the project. 

 Golden Pass placed into service the Phase II facilities to its LNG terminal near Sabine Pass, Texas. The Phase II 

facilities will increase the sendout capacity of the terminal by 1 Bcf/d to 2 Bcf/d. 

 Questar received authorization to construct and operate its ML104 Extension Project which will provide 160 MMcf/d of 

additional capacity for transportation of Uintah Basin gas in Utah. 

 Empire received authorization to construct and operate its Tioga Expansion Project which will provide 350 MMcf/d of 

additional capacity for the transportation of Marcellus Shale gas in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. 

 Pine Prairie received authorization to expand the working gas capacity in its Pine Prairie Energy Center, salt dome 

storage facility in Southern Louisiana from 48 Bcf to 80 Bcf. 

 Columbia Gas filed an application to construct and operate facilities necessary to transport 246 MMcf/d of gas to 

Virginia Electric and Power Company’s planned 1,329 MW generation facilities in Warren County, Virginia. 

 

Natural Gas Activities in May 2011 

Status No. of 

Projects 

Storage 

Capacity 

(Bcf) 

Deliverability 

(MMcf/d) 

Capacity 

(MMcf/d) 

Miles of 

Pipeline 

Compression 

(HP) 

Pipeline 

Placed in Service 2 635.0 61.8 40,310 

Certificated 2 510.0 41.0 0 

Proposed 1 246.0 2.5 0 

Storage 

Placed in Service 2 3.3 5 0 

Certificated 2 34.1 605 11,500 

Proposed 0 0.0 0 0 

LNG 

Placed in Service 1 6.56 1,000 0 

Certificated 0 0 0 0 

Proposed 0 0 0 0 

 Source: Staff Database 

Natural Gas Activities through May 31, 2011 

Through May 31, 2010 

Status No. of 

Projects 

Storage 

Capacity 

(Bcf) 

Deliverability 

(MMcf/d) 

Capacity 

(MMcf/d) 

Miles of 

Pipeline 

Compression 

(HP) 

Pipeline 

Placed in Service 

through May 31, 2010 

10 

8 

6,038.5 

4,600.2 

723.4 

209.3 

431,045 

123,005 

Certificated 

through May 31, 2010 

4 

10 

1,198.0 

5,715.5 

61.5 

1,405.5 

59,265 

431,274 

Storage 

Placed in Service 

through May 31, 2010 

5 

4 

15.3 

28.8 

2,545 

903 

6,283 

0 

Certificated 

through May 31, 2010 

6 

6 

103.3 

43.9 

2,720 

640 

58,710 

15,783 

LNG 

Placed in Service 

through May 31, 2010 

1 

0 

16.4 

0 

2,000 

0 

0 

0 

Certificated 

through May 31, 2010 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

 Source: Staff Database 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For May 2011 

Page 2 of 5 

Hydropower Highlights 

 On May 18, 2011, DHL staff issued a new license for the City of Kaukauna, Wisconsin’s (Kaukauna) 9.4-MW BadgerRapide Croche Hydroelectric Project No. 2677. The project is located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 

Kaukauna (Badger Development) and Rapide Croche (Rapide Croche Development) dams on the Fox River in 

Outagamie County, Wisconsin. The license authorizes Kaukauna to decommission the old Badger powerhouse and 

construct a new Badger powerhouse increasing the installed capacity from 8 MWs to 9.4 MWs. 

 On May 9, 2011, Konohiki Hydro Power LLC filed a conduit exemption application for the proposed 5.3-MW Puu Lua 

Project located in Kauai County, Hawaii, and the project would generate 32.49 GWh annually. 

Hydropower Activities in May 2011 

Conventional Pumped Storage Hydrokinetic

Status

No. Capacity 

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

Total No. 

of Projects

Total 

Capacity 

(MW)

Filed 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

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

Capacity Amendment 1 0.170 0 0 0 0 1 0.170 

Conduit Exemption 1 5.300 0 0 0 0 1 5.300 

Issued 

License 1 1.400 0 0 0 0 1 1.400 

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

Capacity Amendment 1 1.800 0 0 0 0 1 1.800 

Conduit Exemption 1 1.300 0 0 0 0 1 1.300 

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 May 31, 2011) 

Conventional Pumped Storage Hydrokinetic

Status

No. Capacity 

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

Total No. 

of Projects

Total 

Capacity 

(MW)

Filed 

License 8 258.4225 0 0 0 0 8 258.4225 

5-MW Exemption 4 1.346 0 0 0 0 4 1.346 

Capacity Amendment 5 20.440 0 0 0 0 5 20.440 

Conduit Exemption 2 5.375 0 0 0 0 2 5.375 

Issued 

License 4 47.790 0 0 0 0 4 47.790 

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

Capacity Amendment 7 14.418 0 0 0 0 7 14.418 

Conduit Exemption 3 1.650 0 0 0 0 3 1.650 

Placed in Service 

License 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5-MW Exemption 1 0.065 0 0 0 0 1 0.065 

Capacity Amendment 1 3.000 0 0 0 0 1 3.000 

Conduit Exemption 3 1.340 0 0 0 0 3 1.340 

 Source: Staff Database 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For May 2011 

Page 3 of 5 

Electric Generation Highlights 

 Ormat Technologies has brought its 15-MW Jersey Valley Geothermal Project in Nevada online. According to NV 

Energy, its geothermal projects provide 60 percent of the state’s renewable energy. 

 Whelan Energy Center Unit 2 (WEC2), the 220-MW coal-fired generating facility near Hasting, Nebraska is in 

commercial operation. WEC2 is owned and operated by the Public Power Generation Agency, which consists of five 

public utilities in Nebraska and South Dakota. 

 TransCanada Corp’s announced the completion of 726-MW natural gas-fired Coolidge Generating Station in 

Coolidge, Arizona. Salt River Project has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to purchase all power from 

the 12 turbine facility. 

 NV Energy’s 484-MW gas-fired combined cycle Harry Allen Expansion is online. With this, NV Energy now owns 

nearly 80 percent of the generation necessary to meet Southern Nevada’s power needs. 

 Dominion Virginia Power’s 580-MW Bear Garden Power Station in central Virginia began commercial operation. The 

station features two combustion turbine units fired by natural gas with oil as a backup fuel. Bear Garden will produce 

enough electricity to power 146,000 homes. 

 The Berkshire Wind Power Project, Massachusetts’ largest wind farm, came online. The 15-MW wind farm is atop of 

Brodie Mountain and is rated a Class 6 wind resource. Berkshire Wind is expected to operate at a 40 percent 

capacity factor to produce enough electricity to power 6,000 homes in 14 Massachusetts municipalities. 

 E Light Wind and Solar, Inc.’s 6-MW photovoltaic system at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, 

Colorado came online. This project consists of 18,888 solar panels on a 30-acre site. 

 Montauk Energy’s 3.2-MW landfill gas-to-energy project in McKinney, northeast of Dallas, Texas came online. This 

project involves capturing, piping and combustion of methane produced at the 65-acre landfill site. Raytheon 

Company is acquiring the electricity from the McKinney Landfill to power five of its North Texas facilities. 

 According to IHS CERA, of the total installed coal-fired generation totaling 316 GW, 8.9 GW (3 percent of the fleet) 

are committed to retire by 2020, 5.9 GW of which are set to retire by 2015. Another 8.5 GW (3 percent of the fleet) 

have been proposed to retire by 2020, 5.0 GW of which by 2015. The South and the Northeast regions have the 

majority of the announced retirements, with 8.0 GW and 5.2 GW respectively. 

New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)

May 2011 January – May 2011 

Cumulative 

January – May 2010 

Cumulative 

Primary Fuel Type No. of 

Units 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

No. of 

Units 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

No. of 

Units 

Installed Capacity 

(MW) 

Coal 5 220 8 835 18 4,812 

Natural Gas 14 1,790 29 3,673 43 2,538 

Nuclear 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Oil 0 0 0 0 3 5 

Water 0 0 5 4 10 19 

Wind 1 1 39 1,619 30 1,340 

Biomass 7 7 31 80 39 113 

Geothermal Steam 1 15 2 23 0 0 

Solar 6 13 52 136 16 29 

Waste Heat 0 0 7 135 2 20 

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Total 34 2,060 173 6,504 161 8,875 

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

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For May 2011 

Page 4 of 5 

Total Installed Operating Generation Capacity

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

Coal 343.79 30.29% 

Natural Gas 472.29 41.61% 

Nuclear 105.09 9.26% 

Oil 52.65 4.64% 

Water 99.14 8.74% 

Wind 41.86 3.69% 

Biomass 13.44 1.18% 

Geothermal Steam 3.39 0.30% 

Solar 1.27 0.11% 

Waste Heat 0.96 0.08% 

Other 1.02 0.09% 

Total 1,134.89 100.00% 

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

Electric Transmission Highlights 

 Alstom has been awarded a contract by Tres Amigas LLC to design the DC converter technology for their substation 

in New Mexico. The Tres Amigas project will be designed to move renewable energy from the Western 

Interconnection to the Eastern Interconnection via the Southwest Power Pool Inc. and the Electric Reliability Council 

of Texas (ERCOT). The project will be built in two phases. The first phase will connect the Eastern Interconnection 

and the Western Interconnection and the second phase will link in ERCOT. The project is expected to be completed 

by the end of 2014. 

 On May 11, the Brattle Group released a report that estimated the U.S. transmission investment will range between 

$12 billion and $16 billion annually through 2030. The report also noted an increase in transmission investments 

over the past decade due in part to reliability needs and the replacement or upgrading of aging facilities. 

 The final segments of the 500kV Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL) has been completed and energized. TrAIL 

crosses Southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Northern Virginia. The $960 million project was 

completed ahead of schedule. 

 On May 31, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its 2011 Summer Reliability 

Assessment. The NERC regions are not expecting any significant transmission outages during the summer and 

expect to have enough transmission capacity to handle temporary outage. 

Transmission Projects Completed Proposed Transmission Projects 

In-Service by May 2013 

May 2011 May 2010 High Probability of 

Completion All Voltage (kV) 

Line Length (miles) 

≤230 75.0 155.3 3,302.0 5,824.0 

345 82.0 25.0 3,718.2 5,183.3 

500 169.3 0 1,342.3 4,607.0 

Total U.S. 326.3 180.3 8,362.5 15,614.3 
Office of Energy Projects 

Energy Infrastructure Update 

For May 2011 

Page 5 of 5 

Transmission Projects with a Proposed 

In-Service Date by May 2013 Transmission Projects 

Completed in May 

Sources: Data derived from Staff Database and U.S. Electric Transmission Projects ©2011 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.