Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (NYSE: KMI) subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (TGP) finalized its anchor shippers for the market path component of the proposed Northeast Energy Direct project (NED) following the formal close of the anchor shipper period in February, KMI said in a March 5 statement. The anchor shippers executed agreements to transport about 500,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of incremental gas supplies from the Marcellus Shale region to New England. NED’s market path component, from Wright, N.Y., to Dracut, Mass., and beyond, is scalable from 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) to 2.2 Bcf/d. The project has an expected in-service date of November 2018.

Anchor shippers that have executed binding precedent agreements for the project include: National Grid, 186,963 Dth/d; Liberty Utilities, 115,000 Dth/d; Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, 114,300 Dth/d; and Connecticut Natural Gas Corp., Southern Connecticut Gas Corp., The Berkshire Gas Co., The City of Westfield Gas & Electric Light Department and others. TGP will continue to negotiate with potential shippers for the project, including electric distribution companies and others, and expects to announce additional commitments in the future.