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New TECO Company Targets Natural Gas Needs
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Published: August 5, 2008
TAMPA - Expecting that Florida will use more natural gas to meet increasing demand for electricity, TECO Energy Corp. has created a new pipeline company that could transport large amounts of natural gas to east central Florida.
SeaCoast Gas Transmission was formed in June to supply gas to a new power plant that will be built in northeast Florida by the Jacksonville Electric Authority. SeaCoast has entered into a long-term supply contract to provide gas to the plant, called the Greenland Energy Center.
"It has the potential of serving additional customers in the future," said Bill Cantrell, who serves as president of both SeaCoast Gas and Peoples Gas.
TECO supplies gas to several power plants in Florida through Peoples Gas, a natural gas distributor that serves more than 330,000 Florida customers.
"It's a logical extension of the business we already do," Cantrell said. "We know how to get pipelines permitted and how to build them efficiently."
SeaCoast plans to build a 40- to 50-mile transmission line that would connect to the power plant in Jacksonville. The new pipeline would be fed by two major transmission lines operated by Florida Gas Transmission and Southern Natural.
Depending on the route, the project would cost $40 million to $100 million, Cantrell said. The new pipeline is expected to begin commercial operation in 2010.
As Florida builds more gas-fired power plants, the pipeline could be expanded to meet the state's growing appetite for electricity, Cantrell said.
"Most of the new generation that will go online over the next 10 years will be natural gas," he said.
TECO's gas-fired plants already have access to natural gas.
By extending the new pipeline to east central Florida, it would give power providers in that region another option for buying natural gas. An expansion to central Florida could lower the prices electric utilities pay for natural gas, creating savings for customers, TECO said.
"If nothing else, hopefully it will keep the price a little bit more stable or keep it from increasing as fast," Cantrell said.
TECO spokesman Rick Morera said the company has been talking to electric utilities about extending the pipeline south to serve markets in east central Florida.
Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.
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