STATE OF CALIFORNIA
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

Lodi Gas Storage Project
Environmental Review

Project Description

Lodi Gas Storage is a subsidiary of Western Hub Properties, which Haddington Ventures formed in 1998 to develop natural gas facilities. Based in Houston, with an office in Lodi, LGS plans to use the storage and pipeline to respond to market fluctuations in the price and demand for natural gas.

Lodi Gas Storage Project

The Lodi Gas Project application requests that the CPUC issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for constructing and operating the proposed gas storage facilities. The proposed project involves developing an old natural gas production field in San Joaquin County and building a 33-mile pipeline to connect to PG&E’s gas pipeline system. The applicant would store natural gas underground in an area where natural gas wells were previously active. According to the applicant, the gas field can store up to 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Purpose of Project

The applicant is designing the proposed gas storage project to respond to market fluctuations. If constructed, the facility will have the ability to inject and withdraw gas several times within a day to respond to customer demands. In general, storage customers will purchase natural gas for storage when prices are relatively low and withdraw the gas when prices are relatively high or when supplies are limited.

Facilities

The applicant proposes to develop a natural gas storage area located under approximately 1450 acres near Lodi. The proposed project includes the following structures:

• a separation facility (to remove the water from the gas)
• 10 natural gas withdrawal/injection wells (to withdraw gas from or inject gas into the storage project)
• three monitoring wells (to observe pressure and water depth)
• a compressor and dehydration station (to compress and further dry the gas)
• a 33-mile pipeline

The applicant proposes to construct an approximately 33-mile buried pipeline that would connect the storage field to PG&E’s gas pipeline system on Sherman Island. The potential environmental impacts of the route are under consideration. The applicant is negotiating right-of-way agreements with local property owners along the pipeline route.