DTE Energy and two other energy companies plan to build a pipeline through Michigan to ship natural gas from Ohio to Midwest and Ontario markets.
The $1.2 billion-$1.5 billion pipeline will connect with an existing pipeline, co-owned by DTE and Enbridge, somewhere in Michigan, Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer said Tuesday. This type of pipeline usually is 30 to 36 inches in diameter.
The 250-mile-long pipeline, to be owned by DTE, Enbridge and pipeline builder Spectra Energy, will be able to move 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Utica Shale in northeastern Ohio to Canada.
It is expected to be in use by the end of 2015, according to DTE Energy spokesman Len Singer.
He didn’t know how many jobs the project would mean for Michigan.
An Enbridge pipeline spilled as much as 1 million gallons of oil in Marshall in 2010. In late July, the Calgary-based company shut down a 467-mile section of pipeline after spilling 1,200-plus barrels of oil in Wisconsin.
Singer said DTE Energy is “comfortable with the Enbridge partnership” and said oil pipelines are different from natural gas ones.
The companies now will elicit commitments from customers, such as local distribution companies, power companies and large users, to determine how wide the pipeline should be, Springer said.
Zlati Meyer, Detroit Free Press
