Williams Partners gets FERC approval for pipeline

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Williams Partners LP said Wednesday that it received federal approval for a $341 million expansion of the Transco natural gas pipeline, which should expand capacity in the Northeast by this time next year.

Williams said the project will expand the Transco Leidy Line and Transco mainline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to transport natural gas to the Northeast. It will add 12 miles of new pipe, mostly along existing pipeline routes, and a compressor facility in Essex County, N.J.

Construction of the compressor station begins this month, with pipeline construction starting in the spring. The new line should be in service by November 2013, the company said.

The project needed approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.