Puget Sound Energy moves forward with LNG project
TACOMA—Puget Sound Energy has cleared another important hurdle in its plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant at the Port of Tacoma. The state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission has approved an all-party settlement agreement that also sets up a corporate structure designed to protect ratepayers.
The $310 million plant is designed to store up to eight million gallons of LNG. Some of it will be used to fuel ships owned by Totem Ocean Trailer Express and other marine vessels. TOTE, which operates between Washington and Alaska, in 2012 became the first company in the country to announce that it would be converting its fleet from diesel to LNG.
PSE will also use the facility to provide its core customers with natural gas as needed during peak demand, generally in the winter months.
According to a UTC news release, PSE’s parent company, Puget Energy, will create a wholly owned subsidiary called Puget LNG that will develop and finance the Tacoma facility. PSE and Puget LNG will jointly own and operate the plant, and Puget LNG will be responsible for the marine portion of the business.
“The commission determined that the provisions of the settlement will allow PSE’s ratepayers to continue to have the same, or even enhanced, level of protection from the financial liability that might result from Puget Energy owning an unregulated subsidiary, or from the activities of Puget LNG,” the UTC release reads.
According to the PSE website, the plant will also help TOTE remain competitive. It will create at least 250 construction jobs and 18 permanent jobs, and it will have a multiplying effect on the local economy.
PSE already has most of the federal and state permits it needs to begin construction and hopes to open the plant in 2019.
