By Michael Davis
mdavis@myjpa.com

Surveying work has begun on the route for a planned natural gas pipeline in western and northern Butts County, Atlanta Gas Light officials said.

The pipeline, known as the Central Region pipeline, is part of a larger system upgrade known as the Georgia Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) program, said Atlanta Gas Light Spokesperson Tami Gerke. The $175.7 million STRIDE program was approved in 2009 by regulators to ensure adequate pressure on days of peak demand in areas of emerging growth.

Gerke said surveyors began work in the region last week. The Central Region pipeline will run from McDonough Road to the west, in eastern Spalding County, across western Butts and up to Ga. Highway 81 East in Henry County. Gerke said actual work on the line itself will begin in 2011.

She said it is not yet known how many private property owners will be affected, but that AGL would negotiate easements with each of them.

The 26-mile line, 16 inches in diameter, will be buried five feet underground, Gerke said.

She said the purpose is to ensure adequate pressure in the system on the coldest days of the year.

“If we do end up adding more customers ... there’s not going to be a pressure problem,” she said. “That means on the coldest day in Georgia, everybody will get natural gas heat that is on the system.”

In recent weeks, Atlanta Gas Light officials have been informally meeting with business leaders and local officials to apprise them of the project.

In a letter to Jackson officials, Atlanta Gas Light said the STRIDE project’s initial construction phase is three years, and that it will employ an estimated 150 to 200 workers per year.

According to Atlanta Gas Light, the Georgia Public Service Commission authorized the utility to implement a recovery fee for the STRIDE program. The initial charge was to increase rates for all firm customers by an additional 39 cents per month. Beginning in October 2010, the rates will be 78 cents per month, and beginning in October 2011, the rates will be $1.18 per month, according to a press release from Atlanta Gas Light.