
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990                   TAG: 9006070150
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NATURAL GAS SUPPLIER GETS EXPANSION OK

East Tennessee Natural Gas said it has received federal approval for a major increase in the amount of gas piped to its supplier, United Cities Gas, for distribution from Bristol to Christiansburg.

Almost one-fourth of the expansion of 62 million cubic feet of gas per day to its suppliers in three states will be available for United Cities customers in Southwest Virginia, said Thomas R. Bell, president of East Tennessee.

No increase was provided for Roanoke Gas Co., another major supplier of East Tennessee.

Following approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, East Tennessee plans a $24 million expansion, including 27 miles of new pipeline and other facilities in Tennessee. No construction is planned in Virginia.

The expansion amounts to a 13.5 percent increase in the gas piped by East Tennessee, Bell said. Gas for the expansion comes from Texas, Louisiana and offshore.

Probably more than half of the gas used by United Cities and Roanoke Gas customers comes from wells in Southwest Virginia, he said.

East Tennessee, which provides gas from Roanoke to Atlanta through an 1,100-mile system, is seeing "unprecedented demands" for more gas because of industrial growth, especially in Tennessee, new homes and conversion from other fuels, Bell said. - Staff report

by CNB