New gas pipeline to double capacity to Othello
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald A worker with Cascade Natural Gas heat seals segments of a new, eight-inch natural gas pipeline being laid along Lee Road in Othello. The new pipeline will double the company's natural gas capacity.
OTHELLO — A new pipeline being laid along Lee Road on the north side of Othello is expected to double the amount of natural gas available to gas users across the area.
According to Steve Kessie, regional manager for Kennewick-based Cascade Natural Gas, workers with the company are swapping out about three miles of four-inch, high-pressure natural gas line with an eight-inch line for the company’s roughly 1,500 residential and industrial customers in Othello.
However, the primary reason for the pipeline replacement is to make sure McCain Foods has enough natural gas as it expands its operations.
“McCain Foods is our primary customer,” Kessie said. “But we are increasing capacity in that area so we can provide for those kinds of facilities.”
“We do serve the community at large, but that’s not the primary driver,” he added.
The northwest corner of Othello is home to several major food companies, including potato processors McCain Foods and J.R. Simplot as well as juice and concentrate producer SVZ. Last year, McCain announced a $300 million expansion at its Othello facility intended to nearly double the company’s production capacity. The expansion is expected to be completed in mid-2021.
The pipeline replacement is necessary, Kessie said, because even with the Columbia Basin’s very cheap electricity, it’s still less expensive for companies needing a lot of energy for heating or cooking to use natural gas.
“Heating water and cooking is more efficient with gas,” Kessie said. “Those processing plants have a large demand for water and heating capacity.”
Cascade draws natural gas from the Northwest Pipeline system owned and operated by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams, which operates several interstate natural gas pipelines across the United States. The 3,900-mile-long Northwest system delivers natural gas to Idaho, Oregon and Washington from gas fields in Wyoming and Colorado, according to the company’s website.
The Williams interstate pipeline also provides natural gas to Lamb Weston in Warden and several industrial customers in and around Moses Lake, according to data from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
Work on the pipeline replacement began in late May and is expected to be done before the end of July, according to Cascade District Manager Sam Grant.
“It’s 80 percent complete,” he said.
“But we’ve been working for a year on land acquisition for the route,” Kessie added. “And we’ve already installed the service line at McCain.”