Florida is the nation’s fourth-largest consumer of natural gas, and its consumption has tripled since 2000, mostly due to the development of nearly 30 GW of new gas-fired power plants. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the state’s remarkable growth and whether additional pipeline capacity might be needed.
The acquisition of Williams Companies by Energy Transfer will create a midstream behemoth. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2016 subject to regulatory approval. Once complete the main holding company Energy Transfer Corp (ETC) will be a C-Corp entity sitting atop Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs – see Masters of the Midstream for a more complete explanation of these structures) containing the assets of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), Williams Energy Partners (WPZ), Sunoco LP (SUN) and Sunoco Logistics (SXL). The combined natural gas pipeline network will carry as much as 45% of U.S. Lower 48 dry gas production. Today we take a look at the natural gas infrastructure assets in the deal.
Florida Power and Light owner NextEra Energy is currently holding an open season on a new pipeline system to help supply their natural gas fired generating assets in Florida. If built, this system will be the third gas pipeline to supply Florida, which has no onshore production. Unlike the two existing pipelines that receive most of their supplies from conventional Gulf Coast production, the third pipeline would likely be fed by shale production from the Midcontinent and Texas. Those supplies are looking for a home in the Gulf nowadays as surging Marcellus production overtakes their traditional Northeast market. Today we review the project plans.
