Bluestone pipeline begins gas operations in Pennsylvania

DETROIT, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DTE Pipeline Co. began natural gas operations today through its Bluestone Gathering pipeline system in Susquehanna County, Pa.

The southern portion of the pipeline will connect local gas production of Southwestern Energy to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Lenox Township, Pa.  The pipeline has a capacity of 275 million cubic feet per day.  The remaining 32 miles of pipeline will interconnect with the Millennium Pipeline in Sanford, N.Y. and should be completed in January 2013.

"We are pleased to be working with the many communities of Susquehanna County and to be a part of bringing local gas production to markets in the northeast United States," DTE Pipeline President Peter Cianci said.  "Many stakeholders will benefit, especially landowners as they realize royalty payments, and natural gas consumers along the Tennessee and Millennium pipelines, who will have an additional large-scale supply source available to them."

Bluestone created about 1,000 construction jobs at the peak of construction.

Bluestone Gathering is being developed as the Bluestone Pipeline Co. of Pennsylvania LLC, Bluestone Gas Corp. of New York Inc. and Susquehanna Gathering Company I LLC, all of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of DTE Pipeline Company, an affiliate of DTE Energy. Bluestone is DTE's first natural gas gathering project outside Michigan. DTE Pipeline also is a 40 percent owner of the Vector Pipeline, 26.25 percent of the Millennium Pipeline and 33 percent of the recently announced Nexus Gas Transmission System.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.1 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on gas storage and pipelines, unconventional gas production, power and industrial projects, and energy trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at dteenergy.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com/dteenergy.

SOURCE DTE Energy