Cookeville To Gain More Access To Gas Pipeline To Accommodate Growth

More demand for natural gas in a growing community led the Cookeville Gas Department explore additional gas transportation capacity.

Director Jeff Mills said additional transportation capacity is not purchasing more gas or expanding pipelines, but allowing the city to access more of the pipeline itself.

“That’s our greatest concern,” Mills said. “And has been for years is to just get some extra capacity on the pipe. We pick it up when we get the opportunity, and it is a little bit of a cost right now but the way the systems are built you just have to pay for it to have it when it’s needed.”

City Council approved a $492,000 bid for the additional access.

Mills said that as Cookeville has grown, businesses have also inquired about moving to the city. He said that should the city not be able to provide services, it could lead to losses in business.

“If we have large factories or large consumers that look to come to the Cookeville area and we don’t have the capacity to supply to those, ultimately the trickle-down effect is loss of jobs and extra income coming into the community,” Mills said.

Mills said opportunities to get additional capacity in pipelines are hard to come by. He said that currently the pipeline that services Cookeville it fully subscribed, meaning all the capacity has been purchased for that line.

“Once people get the extra capacity they generally don’t release it,” Mills said. He said the bid to expand Cookeville’s capacity became available after an Atlanta area line got the ability to tie to other lines in their area, and turned this capacity back.

Mills said additional capacity will aid in services for the firm, residential, commercial and industrial locations on large consumption days. He said that it will increase Cookeville’s base rate of gas output by 3,000 dekatherms, and that it currently sits at 11,130 dekatherms.