$3M grant to complete natural gas pipeline

Thanks to a $3 million government grant, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District can finish a 33-mile pipeline to improve service and lower costs for customers.

USDA rural development state director Ruth Tackett announced the $3 million funding plan at a ceremony at the utility district?s Smithville offices Monday. The money will enable the utility to complete the 33-mile transmission line from Woodbury to Rock Island.

?When the final phase of the Rock Island project is completed, it will allow the district to meet the growth needs of all counties in the district?s Middle Tennessee Service area for many years into the future,? said Les Enoch, CEO for Middle Tennessee Natural Gas.

?It will lower costs for the district?s customers by diversifying sources of both gas supply and interstate pipeline capacity. It will improve both the integrity and security of the district?s overall distribution system, and it will encourage economic development in this rural area of Tennessee,? Enoch added.

In 2002, the district began installing a 12-inch steel pipe from a new interstate pipeline tap in Gladeville in Wilson County toward Rock Island, where it will serve as a new source of supply for the district?s customers, Enoch explained.

As the project developed, the pipeline has been interconnected to the district?s existing distribution systems in Watertown, Woodbury, McMinnville, Centertown and Smithville, and 54.5 miles of the pipe have already been installed and are in service. Rural development earlier provided a $3 million loan for that phase of the project.

The final construction phase extends the pipeline an additional 14.5 miles from western Warren County to a previously completed interconnect in Rock Island.

?Adequate public infrastructure is an important factor in providing a good quality of life and in making our communities attractive and well-prepared to take full advantage of new economic opportunities,? said Tackett. ?Middle Tennessee Natural Gas has done a great job building partnerships with local leaders across their service area and by planning for the future in this way, they are helping to ensure this will remain a great place for families and businesses.?

Established in 1955, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District serves 53,000 customers located in all, or portions of, 20 counties.