Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project to Seek Public Comment on Environmental Assessment Application

If approved, the proposed pipeline will safely deliver natural gas from a point near Hudson’s Hope to a proposed LNG facility on Lelu Island within the District of Port Edward. The proposed pipeline is approximately 900 kilometres in length. The LNG facility is a separate project by Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd.

Within the 180-day EAO public review period is a 45-day public comment period, which runs from May 26, 2014 to July 9, 2014. The EAO will prepare a report based on its internal review of the application, input from the working group, as well as comments received from the public, and submit recommendations on the proposed Project to the Government of British Columbia.

“With our application now complete, the BC EAO public review is an important step in the regulatory process for the PRGT project,” said Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s executive vice-president and president, development. “By transporting natural gas to export markets, PRGT will support thousands of jobs in the natural gas sector and other industries and provide significant tax revenue for government, which helps to pay for the important social services British Columbians and other Canadians rely upon.”

PRGT’s application consists of more than 8,500 pages of text, maps and tables. The required content of the application was developed through a public process that generated the Application Information Requirements (AIR) issued by the EAO in February, 2014. The AIR process included a public comment period, open houses, and input from the EAO working group whose members represent federal, provincial, and local governments and Aboriginal groups.

The application was subjected to a 30-day completeness review by the EAO and the working group, which ensured that the application met all the Application Information Requirements.

The application is available for review on the BC EAO website and has been distributed to public libraries in the project area, as well as to TransCanada offices in Fort St. John, Prince George and Vancouver. A summary of the application is available on the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project website.

As part of the public comment process, the EAO is holding the following open houses from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.:

ABOUT THE PRINCE RUPERT GAS TRANSMISSION PROJECT

• Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of TransCanada PipeLines Limited.

• Meetings with Aboriginal groups, government, landowners and stakeholders began when the project was announced in January 2013. Pending regulatory approvals, construction will commence in 2015 and the pipeline will be in service by the end of 2018.

• The proposed pipeline is approximately 900 km in length. If approved, it will safely deliver natural gas from a point near Hudson’s Hope to a proposed LNG facility on Lelu Island within the District of Port Edward. The LNG facility is a separate project by Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd.

• Construction of the pipeline will create thousands of short-term jobs over a four-year period and contracting opportunities for B.C. businesses.

• The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project will provide significant economic benefits for British Columbians, local and provincial governments, and Aboriginal communities as it supports the export of surplus natural gas to global markets, including:
  • Thousands of short-term jobs for B.C. residents;
  • Opportunities for local and Aboriginal businesses;
  • Millions of dollars in annual taxes to help support local services such as schools, policing, fire protection, and waste management;
  • Billions of dollars in new investments for the province.

• TransCanada has been operating natural gas pipelines in B.C. for more than 50 years. They include the Foothills pipeline in southeast B.C. and the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. pipeline in northeast B.C.

With more than 60 years’ experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and oil pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada operates a network of natural gas pipelines that extends more than 68,500 kilometres (42,500 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent’s largest providers of gas storage and related services with more than 400 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns or has interests in over 11,800 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is developing one of North America’s largest oil delivery systems. TransCanada’s common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. For more information visit: www.transcanada.com or check us out on Twitter @TransCanada or http://blog.transcanada.com.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

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