UGI Energy Services LLC submitted a pre-filing request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for plans to build a 35-mile pipeline to transport natural gas to central Pennsylvania. The pipeline’s supply would potentially include gas produced in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions. Several customary conditions will need to be satisfied before construction begins, including FERC approval and execution of precedent agreements.

The Sunbury Pipeline’s design allows for up to 200,000 Dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of natural gas to the central Pennsylvania area. UGI is negotiating a precedent agreement for about 180,000 Dth/d of capacity with a foundation shipper, Hummel Station LLC, which is planning to build a power plant at the existing site of the coal-fired Sunbury Generation LP facility near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County, Pa. UGI will hold an open season in January to solicit additional shipper interest.

The pipeline would begin in Lycoming County, Pa., and end at the proposed power plant near Shamokin Dam. UGI expects to invest more than $150 million to build the pipeline.

UGI will complete preliminary engineering studies in the coming months. A formal application is expected to be filed with FERC in mid-2015, with construction expected to begin in 2016.