On February 7, 2006, TransCanada -- through its North Baja Pipeline LLC subsidiary -- filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a certificate to construct an expansion of its existing system in southern California and to construct a new lateral to serve the Imperial Irrigation District's El Centro Generating Station.

The existing North Baja system is currently certificated to transport approximately 500 million cubic feet per day of natural gas in a southbound direction. The expansion project will allow for a northward flow of up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas through North Baja 's system. The gas will originate from LNG terminal facilities in Mexico and will be transported to North Baja's system via a pipeline in Mexico operated by Sempra Energy. North Baja will deliver the gas into the California and other southwestern U.S. markets via existing or proposed new pipelines.

The expansion facilities proposed by North Baja include:
•  up to 80 miles of 42- and 48-inch-diameter pipeline loop (B-Line) within the same right-of-way as the existing gas pipeline (A-Line) in La Paz County , Arizona and Riverside and Imperial counties, California
•  a new meter station at the interconnect with Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas) in Blythe , California (Blythe Meter Station)
•  various modifications at the existing Ehrenberg Compressor Station in La Paz County and the existing Ogilby Meter Station in Imperial County (the latter facility will need to be expanded to accommodate additional piping and ancillary equipment)
•  seven new mainline valves along the right-of-way, at existing valve locations (requiring expansion of the fenced valve lots).

In connection with the system expansion, North Baja plans to construct a 0.625-mile-long, 10-inch-diameter pipeline from the proposed Blythe Meter Station north to an interconnect with Blythe Energy's existing supply lateral near Interstate Highway 10 in Blythe. The lateral would run north from the proposed Blythe Meter Station adjacent to the existing SoCal Gas pipelines and parallel to the D-10-13 Canal and Riviera Drive . The preliminary preferred alignment is on the east side of the canal; an alternative alignment on the west side of the canal is also being examined. This pipeline would provide approximately 113 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to the existing Blythe Energy Facility west of Blythe.

North Baja is in discussions with the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) to construct a new pipeline lateral from its existing pipeline to IDD's El Centro Generating Station. The lateral would deliver up to 103 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to this power plant in the Imperial Valley .

The IID Lateral facilities proposed by North Baja include:
• approximately 46 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline, with up to five block valves along the right-of-way
• a new meter station and pig receiver at the IID El Centro Generating Station
•  one pig launcher at a tap off the A-Line near North Baja 's Ogilby Meter Station

The preferred route of the IID Lateral would cross the Imperial Sand Dunes parallel with Interstate 8 and the All American Canal . West of the dunes the route parallels Interstate 8 until it reaches the Imperial Valley . In the Valley the line would be installed mostly in public road rights-of-way.

Increased demand for re-gasified LNG leads North Baja to anticipate that demand for this LNG-source gas will likely require the entire 80 miles of its system to be looped. Based on the needs of the market, the system expansion will be done in phases. It is anticipated that Phase I would be constructed in 2007; Phase II would be constructed in 2008 or 2009. The approximate duration of construction for each phase of the B-Line facilities is four months.

Construction of the Blythe Energy Interconnect Lateral and associated meter and valve facilities is anticipated to occur in 2007 concurrent with construction of Phase I of the B-Line facilities. North Baja anticipates that construction of the IID Lateral facilities would occur in 2008 or 2009 and would take approximately 4 months.

Before it can construct any of these facilities, North Baja must obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the lead agency conducting the federal environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. Bureau of Land Management will assist in conducting the environmental review, as much of the project would be built on federal lands. North Baja must also obtain a lease to cross state-owned lands in California ; consequently the California State Lands Commission will serve as lead California agency with respect to the California Environmental Quality Act. These agencies will work together to prepare a single environmental impact document that meets both federal and California requirements.

On July 6 and 7, 2005 North Baja conducted open houses in Blythe, El Centro and Calexico to present information about its expansion plans and to begin getting feedback from interested parties. At the time, no specific routes for the IID Lateral had been identified. Since then, North Baja has identified preliminary preferred and alternative routes, which are shown in this map.
A map of the proposed North Baja Expansion is available here.

Public scoping meetings were held September 28 and 29 in Blythe and El Centro, respectively. Information regarding the project is available on the FERC Internet website (http://www.ferc.gov) at the “eLibrary” link or from the FERC’s Public Reference Room at (202) 502-8371. Additional information is also available on the California State Lands Commission’s website (http://www.slc.ca.gov).

Click the link below to view the project schedule.