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Energy and permitting policy, read from the public record.

Register entry No. 0017ReportWe Energies release

NGPL and Horizon file North Extension Project for Wisconsin Electric gas supply, Docket No. CP26-564-000

The $438 million application would add 185,000 dekatherms a day of firm service through new Illinois compression and an 11.5-mile lateral into Kenosha County. FERC set a Sept. 9 intervention deadline and has asked the applicants for more data.

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Summary

The price tag is $438,467,975. That is Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC’s estimate for the North Extension Project, which it and Horizon Pipeline Company, L.L.C. asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to authorize in a joint application filed August 12, 2026, under sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission’s regulations [1]. The Commission’s notice of the application, published August 24 at 91 FR 54705 in Docket No. CP26-564-000, sets a September 9 deadline for motions to intervene, comments and protests [1].

What the record shows

The project would let Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) provide 185,000 dekatherms per day of incremental firm transportation service “to meet the growing demands of the Wisconsin Electric Power Company in southern Wisconsin,” according to the notice [1].

The notice lists five groups of facilities [1]:

  • a new 11,107-horsepower compressor station, CS 119, in Lake County, Illinois;
  • a new 31,900-horsepower compression unit at the existing CS 312 in Livingston County, Illinois, plus re-wheeling of that station’s existing compressor unit 1;
  • a new 11,107-horsepower compressor unit at CS 113 in Will County, Illinois;
  • a lateral of about 11.5 miles, starting in Lake County, Illinois, and ending in Kenosha County, Wisconsin;
  • a new meter station at the end of the lateral, with appurtenant and auxiliary facilities.

All of the new compression is in Illinois. The only new pipe is the lateral that crosses the state line [1].

The filing has two parts. NGPL seeks authority to lease the capacity the project creates on Horizon’s interstate system, and Horizon seeks the matching authorization to lease that capacity to NGPL [1].

On rates, NGPL proposes an incremental recourse rate under its Rate Schedule FTS for firm service on the project facilities [1].

The notice lists Kinder Morgan, Inc., as operator of NGPL, and names a Kinder Morgan regulatory director as the contact for questions about the project [1].

The applicants told the Commission that the project needs a water quality certificate under section 401 of the Clean Water Act from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources [1]. The notice directs NGPL to file each certification request, with the date it was submitted, and then either the state agency’s decision or evidence that certification was waived [1].

Where it sits in the process

The application was filed August 12. Two days later, on August 14, Northern Illinois Gas Company, doing business as Nicor Gas, filed a motion to intervene [3]. The Commission’s deputy secretary, Carlos D. Clay, signed the notice of application on August 19 [1]. On August 20, the Office of Energy Projects sent the applicants a letter asking them to respond to a data request within 10 days to assist the Commission’s analysis [2].

The notice sets the next environmental step under 18 CFR 157.9. Within 90 days of the notice, Commission staff will either complete its environmental review and place it in the public record, or issue a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review [1]. A schedule notice would give the expected date for a final environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment, and the notice says all federal authorizations are then to be completed within 90 days of the staff document’s issuance [1]. This site’s August 19 report on the CP2 LNG Expansion Project followed the same choice between an assessment and an impact statement in another docket.

Participation runs through three channels: comments, protests and motions to intervene [1]. Comments alone do not make the filer a party [1]. Only intervenors may request rehearing of a Commission order in the proceeding and then take it to a federal court of appeals [1]. Timely, unopposed motions are granted automatically under Rule 214(c)(1), and the applicants have 15 days to object to any intervention [1].

How does North Extension compare with the other Wisconsin gas projects at FERC?

It is the third Wisconsin-bound expansion noticed by the Commission since July.

Project Docket Stage in the record Stated capacity
ANR Pipeline, Northwoods Project PF26-6-000 Pre-filing scoping, notice published July 2 up to 390,000 Dth/d [5]
Guardian Pipeline, Guardian 3 Expansion CP26-548-000 Scoping on a filed application, notice published Aug. 3 about 536,903 Dth/d [4]
NGPL and Horizon, North Extension CP26-564-000 Notice of application published Aug. 24 185,000 Dth/d [1]

By this report’s arithmetic, the three add up to about 1.1 million dekatherms per day of proposed firm capacity. ANR says its project would support “the Midwest’s increasing demand for natural gas fired power generation driven by electrical load growth for homes and businesses in Wisconsin” [5]. Guardian’s notice says its expansion would carry gas “from liquid trading hubs in the Chicago area to points of delivery in Wisconsin” [4]. Guardian’s project includes 68.3 miles of 36-inch pipeline loop in Illinois and a new compressor station in Dodge County, Wisconsin; ANR’s includes 92 miles of 36-inch loop in Michigan and Wisconsin [4, 5]. ANR had not filed a formal application when its notice was issued [5].

What the record does not show

  • Which plants the gas would serve. The notice names Wisconsin Electric as the demand behind the project but does not identify a generating station or distribution point [1]. We Energies, the utility serving southeast Wisconsin, announced in May 2025 that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin had approved a 128-megawatt gas plant in the Town of Paris, in Kenosha County, and an 1,100-megawatt plant in Oak Creek [6]. The notice does not mention We Energies or connect the Kenosha County lateral to either plant [1].
  • The precedent agreement. The notice does not say whether Wisconsin Electric has signed for all 185,000 dekatherms per day, or on what term [1].
  • The rate. NGPL proposes an incremental recourse rate, but the notice gives no figure [1].
  • The contents of the staff data request. The Commission’s index describes the August 20 letter only as a request for a response within 10 days [2].
  • The environmental document. Staff has not yet said whether it will prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement, or on what schedule [1].
  • State permit status. The notice does not say whether the requests for section 401 certification have been submitted to Illinois or Wisconsin [1].
  • An in-service date. The notice gives none. Environment+Energy Leader reported that Kinder Morgan expects the project in service in the fourth quarter of 2028, subject to permits and approvals [7].

Positions on the record

The applicants. NGPL and Horizon present the project as a response to Wisconsin Electric’s growing demand in southern Wisconsin, and they ask for an incremental rate design [1]. No other statement from the applicants appears in the record cited here.

Wisconsin Electric and We Energies. Wisconsin Electric does not appear among the filers in the docket index through August 20 [2, 3]. In its May 2025 release on the state approvals, We Energies said the Oak Creek and Paris plants, “along with other proposed natural gas pipeline and storage facilities, will provide critical energy when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing” [6]. Mike Hooper, president of We Energies, said then that the decision was “an important next step in our efforts to meet growing electric demand across southeast Wisconsin” [6].

Nicor Gas. The Illinois distribution utility intervened two days after the filing, using a motion that carries no written statement of position [3].

The docket index lists no protest through August 20 [2, 3]. Whether landowners along the Lake County-to-Kenosha County lateral or communities near the three Illinois compressor sites will intervene before 5:00 p.m. Eastern on September 9 is not yet in the record [1].

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

What is the deadline to intervene in the NGPL North Extension Project at FERC?
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 9, 2026, in Docket No. CP26-564-000 [1]. Comments and protests carry the same deadline, and only intervenors can seek rehearing or appeal a FERC order in the case [1].
Who would get the gas from the North Extension Project?
The notice says the 185,000 dekatherms per day of new firm service is meant to meet growing demand of Wisconsin Electric Power Company in southern Wisconsin [1]. It does not name delivery points beyond a new meter station at the end of the Kenosha County lateral [1].
How much would the North Extension Project cost?
Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America estimates $438,467,975 [1]. It proposes an incremental recourse rate under its Rate Schedule FTS for firm service on the new facilities [1].
Does the North Extension Project need state water permits?
Yes. The applicants told FERC they need Clean Water Act section 401 certification from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources [1].
When would the North Extension pipeline be in service?
Kinder Morgan expects a fourth-quarter 2028 start, subject to permits and approvals, according to Environment+Energy Leader [7]. The FERC notice itself gives no in-service date [1].

Note on sourcing

The project description comes from the Commission's notice of application; this report does not draw on the application's exhibits or resource reports. The August 20 staff letter and Nicor Gas's motion to intervene are described as the Commission's docket index lists them; this report does not draw on the contents of the data request, and Nicor's motion, filed without a document, states no position. The fourth-quarter 2028 in-service target is Kinder Morgan's estimate as reported by Environment+Energy Leader and does not appear in the notice. The notice spells one compressor-station county 'Livington'; this report uses Livingston County, Illinois. The link between the project and any specific We Energies generating plant is not stated in the notice. Neither the applicants nor Wisconsin Electric Power Company had made a public statement on the filing in the record cited here as of publication.

Sources

  1. Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC; Horizon Pipeline Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Application and Establishing Intervention Deadline, 91 FR 54705 (FR Doc. 2026-17243)Federal Register (FERC), August 24, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. Letter requesting Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC et al. to respond to a data request on the North Extension Project, Docket No. CP26-564-000 (FERC Accession No. 20260820-3029)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of Energy Projects, August 20, 2026 · elibrary.ferc.gov
  3. Motion to Intervene of Northern Illinois Gas Company d/b/a Nicor Gas Company, Docket No. CP26-564-000 (FERC Accession No. 20260814-5183)Nicor Gas (filed with FERC), August 14, 2026 · elibrary.ferc.gov
  4. Guardian Pipeline, LLC; Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Proposed Guardian 3 Expansion Project, 91 FR 48858 (FR Doc. 2026-15693)Federal Register (FERC), August 3, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  5. ANR Pipeline Company; Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Planned Northwoods Project, and Notice of Public Scoping Sessions, 91 FR 40531 (FR Doc. 2026-13460)Federal Register (FERC), July 2, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  6. We Energies natural gas plants in Oak Creek and Kenosha County approved by regulatorsWe Energies, May 22, 2025 · news.we-energies.com
  7. FERC Reviews $438M Gas Pipeline Expansion for WisconsinEnvironment+Energy Leader, August 23, 2026 · environmentenergyleader.com

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0030 · Report · 2 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Longboard LNG import terminal off Oʻahu, Docket No. PF26-10-000
  2. No. 0026 · Record of decision · 2 shared headingsFERC staff issues final EIS for Sabine Pass Stage 5 LNG expansion, Docket No. CP24-75-001
  3. No. 0015 · Report · 2 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Venture Global's CP2 LNG Expansion Project, Docket Nos. CP26-530 and CP26-533