Oct. 2--Natural gas has been flowing through the Rockies Express Pipeline in Indiana since June 29, and company officials say the entire pipeline is on schedule for completion Nov. 1.

The 1,679-mile pipeline, costing $6.7 billion, will extend from Rio Blanco County, in northwestern Colorado, to Monroe County, Ohio, near the West Virginia state line.

The pipeline enters Indiana through Vermillion County, passing through Parke County and extends east, exiting through Franklin County. It covers 166.3 miles in Indiana on 771 parcels of land.

The pipeline's benefit in Indiana is likely the long-term supply of natural gas, said Chase Kelley, spokeswoman for Vectren Corp., the holding company of Vectren Energy Delivery, which serves Terre Haute, and of Indiana Gas Co. and Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co.

"The pipeline just recently came on line and has had no impact as yet on natural gas prices, which nationwide are at a low, the lowest since 2001 because of the economy. Going forward, once the economy turns around, it is always good to have a diverse [natural gas] supply. We will have supplies coming from the Gulf, the Texas plains and now the Rockies. We anticipate that as being beneficial once the economy turns around," Kelley said.

The pipeline has four interconnects or meter stations in Indiana where natural gas can be extracted from the pipeline and has a permanent compressor station in Bainbridge in Putnam County, Allen Fore, director of community relations for Kinder Morgan, parent company of the Rockies Express Pipeline, told the Terre Haute Kiwanis Club on Thursday in a meeting at MCL Cafeteria.

The 42-inch high pressure steel pipeline, which is 1 to 11/2 inches thick and is externally coated with fusion bond epoxy, has a life expectancy of 70 to 80 years, Fore said, adding the Rockies Express Pipeline is expected to transport natural gas for at least 100 years.

The pipeline has a capacity of about 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, enough to service 4.1 million homes, Fore told the Kiwanis Club. The pipeline has a maximum pressure of 1,480 pounds per square inch, he said.

The pipeline is federally regulated and the natural gas is fully committed, or sold out, for the next 10 years at a set price, Fore said. That means the pipeline will not be impacted by the ups and downs of natural gas prices, he said.

The pipeline is covered by a minimum of five feet of ground. It is much deeper, especially under rivers. The pipeline goes as deep as 100 feet under the Wabash River, Fore said.

While construction is done in Indiana, Fore said the project still must complete restoration of landowner property and county roads, expected to be finished in the next few weeks. The pipeline had to negotiate with 7,028 landowners, Fore said, to secure a 125-foot wide construction right-of-way and a 50-foot permanent right-of-way for the pipeline.

Fore said the pipeline enhances delivery of domestic energy, as natural gas supplies 25 percent of the nation's domestic power. "One of the federal regulatory commission members called this the king of pipelines because it is one of the biggest ever constructed in North America" in at least 25 years, Fore said.

More information on the pipeline can be found at www.rexpipeline.com.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

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