Gas supplies for Homer moving ahead
Enstar Natural Gas Co. hopes to hook up its first customers in Homer on Alaska’s southern Kenai Peninsula as soon as July, John Lau, the utility’s directory of engineering, told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on May 29.
“Our goal is to have 1,200 customers served this fall,” Lau said.
Homer has long hoped to have gas supplies for heating buildings — recent gas developments in the southern Kenai Peninsula, including the development of the North Fork gas field, are finally converting that hope into a reality.
Lau said that contracting companies are currently in the process of installing gas lines. These consist of a trunk line from Anchor Point into Homer and distribution lines in Homer itself. The trunk line is a low-pressure, eight-inch line designed for gas distribution rather than long-distance gas transmission, but a planned gas pressure of 100 pounds per square inch at the Anchor Point end will provide significantly more throughput capability than Homer is likely to need in the foreseeable future, Lau said. And the fact that the trunk line is, in effect, a distribution line opens the possibility of connecting houses along the pipeline route to the gas supply, he said.
—Alan Bailey
|