Delaware News Desk

Smyrna/Clayton Sun-Times

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. announced Jan. 8 that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order approving the company’s proposed Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project.

The order, which was applied for in September 2018 by Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co., Chesapeake Utilities’ interstate natural gas transmission subsidiary, approves the construction and operation of new infrastructure facilities in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and Wicomico and Somerset counties in Maryland.

“Bringing natural gas to a new area results in many positive enhancements for the community, both environmental and economic,” said Jeff Sylvester, senior vice president for Chesapeake Utilities, responsible for the company’s natural gas transmission and regulated distribution businesses. “Studies have shown that a project like this will create more job growth and expansion of services, particularly increased demand and additional local services.”

According to a recent study from the Regional Economic Studies Institute of Towson University, the infrastructure project would bring the following economic benefits to the region: direct employment, employing individuals who are directly associated with the construction project; indirect employment, with companies benefiting from increased demand and sales of their local services; and induced employment, including increased revenue for local employers and more discretionary spending for local residents.

“The FERC’s approval enables our company to continue to meet the growing customer demand for natural gas service in the region,” said Jeff Tietbohl, vice president of Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co. “This project further expands our partnership in the local communities in which we live and work, bringing natural gas service to Somerset County for the first time and providing a cleaner, reliable and more cost-effective energy choice for customers on the Delmarva Peninsula.”

The project will add approximately 12 miles of natural gas infrastructure in Kent and Sussex counties and nearly seven miles of infrastructure in Wicomico and Somerset counties. Construction of the Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project is expected to commence within the first quarter 2020. The estimated completion date will be the fourth quarter 2021.

Once in service, the new natural gas infrastructure will provide approximately 11.8 million cubic feet per day of additional natural gas firm transportation service and 2.5 million cubic feet of off-peak transportation service to Chesapeake Utilities’ natural gas distribution subsidiaries on the Delmarva Peninsula and one industrial customer.

The estimated cost of the project is approximately $37 million. The anticipated annual gross margin for the Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project is $5.1 million.

For more on the project, visit bit.ly/2GNiBef.

For more on Chesapeake Utilities, visit chpk.com. For more on Eastern Shore Natural Gas, visit esng.com.