MID-ATLANTIC CONTINGENCY PLANNING GROUP

 

May 4, 2005

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The spring meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Contingency Planning Group was held at the Stonewall Resort in Roanoke, West Virginia and hosted by Columbia Gas Transmission.  Todd Smith called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.

 

The following were in attendance:

 

Chairman:                       Todd Smith (Roanoke Gas)

Vice Chairman:                Tom Gibson (Columbia Distribution)

Secretary:                        Drew Moncol (VA Power) unable to attend

 

Ed Unger                        South Jersey Gas

Barry Ranson                  Dominion

Jody Derrickson              Dominion

Ed Turowski                   Baltimore G & E

Rich Truxell                    Williams-Transco

Wayne Rutledge              AGL Resources

Jim Cosgrove                  Washington Gas

Andrea Mills                   Washington Gas

P. Scott Murphy             Washington Gas

Michael Gagnet               Roanoke Gas

Bill Christian                   Columbia Gas Transmission

Gale Carovillano              Columbia Gas Transmission

Sharon Burdette              Columbia Gas Transmission

Al Dillard                        Columbia Gas Transmission

George Smith                  Virginia Power

 

Winter Summary/Summer Forecast

 

 

Columbia Gas Transmission – Gale Carovillano reported that temperatures throughout Columbia’s operating areas were 2.7% warmer than normal compared to 2.5% for last year.

 

Total throughput was 682.0 Bcf.  Peak day occurred on January 23rd with a throughput of 7.0 Bcf.  FSS customers withdrew approximately 4.3 Bcf and the weighted average temperature for the day was 11°.

 

Storage customers started the season with 96.7% of their SCQ and ended at 18.2%.  They withdrew 192.0 Bcf in total this winter compared to 197.0 Bcf last year.  Columbia anticipates no issues for FSS customers planning to inject up to their full SCQ.

 

Upcoming projects include approximately 952 miles of pipeline  scheduled for smart pigging throughout the system.  Projects affecting the mid-Atlantic area are:  Line MA from Linden Church to Rutledge and Line MB from Potomac River to Owings Mills will undergo installation of launchers and receivers, etc. to make the lines pigable.  Lines VC and MC will undergo baseline assessment with geo and smart pigging from Loudoun to Linden Church.  Several sections of  Lines VB, VB-Loop and VB-5 are scheduled for recoating between Strasburg and Nineveh.  Also, a shrink sleeve replacement on Line VB-5 downstream of Nineveh.

 

Girth weld coating remediation is scheduled on Line WB-5 from Glady to Whitmer.  Launcher and receiver will be installed for geo and smart pigs on WB-Loop 26”.

 

In April, uprating on Line VA-20” was completed from Gala to Lexington.  The line was restored to original MAOP of 1000# and unit #3 at Gala compressor station was modified to increase operating envelope.  Smart pig was run from Lexington to Bickers and at Bickers c/s, replacement of the filter/separator on the suction line. 

 

Smart pig inspections and remediations continue on Lines SM-80 and SM-80 Loop between Ceredo and Lanham compressor stations.

 

Williams-Transco – The peak day for the 2004/05 winter season occurred on December 20, 2004.  Total market area deliveries for this day were 8,740 MDT.  The peak day for last winter was 7,973 MDT set on January 26, 2004.  The three consecutive day peak occurred on January 17, 18, 19 with a 3 day delivery average of 8,370 MDT/day.

 

All facilities operated as designed throughout the winter period.

 

Construction and maintenance planned in the Mid-Atlantic region include Clean Air Act modifications (HPFI) at various compressor stations.  Station 170 near Appomattox, Virginia is scheduled to have 1-2 units down this summer/fall.  A complete station outage (24 hours) is planned for early spring.  No impact on shippers anticipated.

 

Hydrostatic test on 42 inch Main Line ‘D’ between the Potomac River, Maryland (MP1603.97) (Montgomery County) and Compressor Station 190 near Ellicott City, Maryland (MP 1628.78) (Howard County).  Estimated outage timing:  June 6 to June 16, 2005.

 

In-Line inspection projects include smart pigging 20 miles of 30-inch Main Line ‘A’ from Compressor Station 185 near Manassas, Virginia (MP 1583.43) (Prince William County) to the Potomac River, Virginia (MP 1603.97 (Fairfax County).  Estimated timing for smart pig runs:  May 10 and May 24, 2005.  Estimated outage timing for anomaly repairs, if required:  August 5 through August 19, 2005, exact schedule to be determined based on analysis of smart pig results.

 

Smart pig 24 miles of 30-inch Main Line ‘A’ from the Potomac River, Maryland (MP 1603.97) (Montgomery County) to Compressor Station 190 near Ellicott City, Maryland (MP 1628.78) (Howard County).  Estimated timing for smart pig runs:  April 25 and May 12, 2005.  Estimated outage timing for anomaly repairs, if required:  August 20 through September 8, 2005, exact schedule to be determined based on analysis of smart pig results.

 

Smart pig 64 miles of 36-inch Main Line ‘C’ from Compressor Station 195 near Delta, Pennsylvania (MP 1674.58) (York County) through Compressor Station 200 near Frazer, Pennsylvania (MP 1722.24) (Chester County) to Main Line Valve (MLV) 200C10, MP 1738.95 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Preparatory work is required to install a pig launcher and receiver and replace a valve.  Installation of a second launcher at MLV200C10 will extend the outage to MLV200C20.  Estimated time for preparatory work:  from May 21 through July 8, 2005.  Estimated timing for smart pig runs:  July 26 and August 9, 2005.  Estimated outage timing for anomaly repairs, if required:  September 26 through November 10, 2005, exact schedule to be determined based on analysis of smart pig results.

 

Dominion – Winter season was warmer than normal with peak day occurring on January 18th with a total throughput of 8.7 Bcf  as reported by Jody Derrickson.  Customer storage levels as of November 1 were 98% and ending March 31 at approximately 26%.  Storage turn was approximately 215 bcf for customers and an additional 80 bcf for storage partners.

 

No emergency outages occurred during the season but 2 OFO’s were issued dealing with pipeline usage in New York State.  Dominion met all firm customer obligations.

 

Pipeline and storage compressors were available all winter with very little unplanned downtime.  Two new compressor stations were built and horsepower added to three existing stations increasing horsepower from 26,400 to 65,600 for deliveries to PL-1 market.  Completed and tested the two new compressor stations with approximately 18,000 horsepower associated with Cove Point East project.  These stations were designed to move gas from Transco (Pleasant Valley) and Columbia and DTI (Loudoun) into the Cove Point Pipeline.

 

Cove Point LNG received 35 LNG tankers containing over 100 bcf of gas from November 2004 through March 2005.  This liquid was vaporized and served the East Coast markets.

 

Spring storage tests have been completed and customers will need to average approximately 1.0 bcf per day injections to refill storage.

 

Issues affecting operations are pipeline relocation of PL1 3000’ of 30” pipe requiring 1 to 2 day outage for tie-ins and construction for pipeline integrity work on TL-523 Pleasant Valley to Cedar Springs launcher/receivers installed, 5 days (24 hours a day).

 

Filing was made in April for Cove Point expansion which will increase sendout from 1.0 bcf/d to 1.8 bcf/d. 6.8 bcf of additional tank storage for a total of 14.6 bcf, new pipe and partial looping of 36” line, 2 new compressor stations and additional conventional storage.

 

Chalk Point Power Station has returned to service with the addition of the Aquasco M&R recently put in service off the Cove Point pipeline.

 

Roanoke Gas – Mike Gagnet reported warmer than normal winter temperatures resulted in 6% below normal volumes for Roanoke Gas and 12% below normal volumes for Bluefield Gas.  Roanoke, however, experienced its 3rd highest peak day at 85,000 Dth.

 

Storage ending balances were:  TCO – 22-23%, TGP – 40% and LNG – 50%.

 

Summer construction plans include LNG fire protection and ESD to meet NFPA59A.codes.

 

Columbia of Virginia/Maryland – Tom Gibson reported warmer than normal temperatures for both CMD and CVA.  Peak day occurred for both companies on January 23rd.  Throughput for CMD was 54,251 Dth with average temperature at 12° and throughput for CVA was 409,337 with average temperature at 18°.  Total throughput for the season was down 3% from last year for CMD and down 4% from last year for CVA.

 

CMD began the season with 95% of SCQ and ended with 23%.  CVA began the season with 99% of SCQ and ended with 23%.

 

Due to the construction growth in northern Virginia, companies expect customer base to increase in excess of 5%.

 

Washington Gas – Scott Murphy stated that this winter marked the 4th consecutive start to the season with above normal temperatures.  December temperatures varied with well above normal the first 10 days of the month with highs well into the 60’s.  The temperature roller coaster continued through the end of the month as highs rebounded to 60°.  Daily record highs were set on New Years Day with highs of 69° at DCA and 68° at IAD.   The first 14 days of January temperatures averaged 10° above normal.  The last 15 days of the month averaged 10° below normal.  A five week period starting late January and lasting into March averaged slightly colder than normal. 

 

Peak day occurred on January 23rd with throughput volume of 1.5 Bcf.  Storage level to begin the season was at 97.6% and at season end was _____.

 

Projects scheduled for the summer season include re-setting of 24” line at Leesburg Gate Station which could be out of service up to 6 weeks.  Rockville station will be out of service for a minimum of 3 weeks for pigging.  During June they will be performing maintenance of the Middleburg Gate Station while installing SCADA system to the gate.  The new Rock Creek Gate Station (off of Williams) should be in service by September 2005.  Testing dates are scheduled for August.  And are starting the design phase of a new LNG facility at Old Chillum low pressure plant.

 

AGL Resources – Wayne Rutledge reported that VNG had a throughput of 350 Mmcf on peak day January 23rd.  The winter brought many challenges and company was pleased with accomplishments.

 

Baltimore G&E – Ed Turowski reported conditions were also slightly warmer than normal  with the exception of March for BG&E.  Peak day also occurred on January 23rd with their 2nd highest send-out on record.

 

South Jersey Gas – Peak day for South Jersey Gas also occurred on January 23rd with a throughput of 422,656 Dth per Ed Unger.  Three day peak on January 21, 22 and 23 totaled 1,197,541 Dth.  Total LNG vaporized equaled 343,250 Mcf, total LNG boil off was 68,949 Mcf and total LNG received by truck was 499,107 Mcf.

 

Capital improvements include completed replacement of LNG boil off compressor, completed replacement of LNG plant instrument air compressors and completed 4 miles of 20” 350# MAOP main to feed Cape May County.

 

Planned improvements for 2005 include new station on Transco system and 7 miles of 24” 700# MAOP main from Repaupo to Swedesboro and 4 miles of 24” 350# MAOP main from Mays Landing to McKee City.

 

Hourly Flows (Power Plants)

 

The group briefly discussed the proposed standards approved by a NAESB subcommittee addressing communications between pipelines and power plants.  The executive committee at NAESB will be voting on them in June.

 

Website Discussion

 

Gale distributed the new password now in effect until the fall session and informed the group that all sensitive items requiring password protection will be placed under the ARCHIVES link.

 

Fall Meeting

 

Jim Cosgrove expressed the possibility of Washington Gas hosting the fall meeting.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.