Williams Partners LP (NYSE: WPZ) said Aug. 4 its pipeline expansion has been green-lighted to link Northeast natural gas supplies from the Marcellus and Utica shales to growing demand in the Southeast.

The application for Transco’s fully contracted Dalton Expansion Project received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Tulsa, Okla.-based company said.

The Dalton Expansion Project is designed to deliver natural gas to an existing electric generating facility in northern Georgia operated by Oglethorpe Power Corp., local distribution company Atlanta Gas Light, as well as the City of Cartersville.

The proposed project consists of 115 miles of new steel pipe ranging from 16 inches to 30 inches in diameter. It is expected to extend from the existing Transco pipeline in Coweta County, Ga., to new delivery points in Paulding and Murray counties, Ga.

The pipeline is being designed to transport about 448,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day, which is enough to meet the daily needs of about 2 million homes, the company said.

“Along with Leidy Southeast and Virginia Southside, the Dalton Expansion will be our third project providing southern market area customers access to growing Marcellus and Utica supplies with our Atlantic Sunrise project coming next. In addition to the environmental benefits of connecting electric power generators with this cleaner energy resource, these natural gas pipeline investments produce stable, long-term returns for our business,” Rory Miller, senior vice president of Williams Partners' Atlantic-Gulf operating area, said in a statement.

Construction is planned to begin in the third quarter of 2016 with completion targeted for 2017. The project is part of Williams Partners’ 2016 growth capital funding plan that includes $1.3 billion for Transco expansions and other interstate pipeline growth projects.

Transco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners, is an interstate natural gas transmission pipeline system.