Plans to expand a natural gas pipeline in Michigan and Wisconsin, including through Shawano and Oconto counties, is drawing a lot of interest from affected residents.
TC Energy, which owns and operates the ANR Pipeline, held public open houses in Shawano and Lakewood in late April. Meetings were also held in Goodman in northern Marinette County and in Crystal Falls, Michigan, the starting point of the proposed 92-mile Northwoods Project.
“It is what it is, I guess,” said Terry Ondik, a third-generation landowner of property between Gillett and Suring.
He and a few neighboring landowners attended the April 27 meeting at the Shawano Civic Center to learn how the proposal would affect them.
“Hopefully it goes smoothly,” Ondik said. “They’re taking a section of our woods, which I don’t like. They’ll log all the trees off and stump it, level it and then bury their pipe, and revegetate it or whatever they have to do.”
He said the property is also good for hunting.
“Over the years, we’ve planted a lot of apple trees, nut trees, all that,” he added.
Craig Summerfield, spokesperson for TC Energy, said the company will be working with landowners to secure 50-foot easements for the new 36-inch pipeline that will be built right next to the existing 30-inch pipeline.
“This is a public open house for the Northwoods Project, which is about expanding the existing ANR Pipeline that’s going through the area as a result of economic development to meet increased demand for natural gas,” he said.
The new pipeline would be 92 miles long, including 83 miles in Wisconsin and 9 miles in Michigan. TC Energy will also build a greenfield compressor station in the Town of Waukechon in Shawano County.
TC Energy provides natural gas to licensed public utilities that, in turn, supply homes and businesses.
Summerfield estimated that construction of the pipeline would generate about 2,500 jobs and provide $83 million in taxes, the vast majority in the Badger State.
Plans for the $700 million expansion project were pre-filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and formal application will be made in the fourth quarter of this year. It will take about a year to get approval. Construction would then begin in 2028, with service beginning in the fourth quarter of 2029.
Questions about the project can be directed to Summerfield at craig_summerfield@tcenergy.com. For more information on Northwoods Project, visit https://tcenergy.com/northwoods.
Terry Ondik, a third-generation landowner of property between Gillett and Suring, waits to talk with TC Energy staff about how the proposed pipeline expansion will affect his property. The Northwoods Project, aimed at increasing supply of natural gas, will include a new 36-inch pipeline next to the existing 30-inch pipeline that runs from the Upper Peninsula through northeast Wisconsin. (Kevin Passon | NEW Media)
TC Energy employees answered questions from landowners concerned with how a proposed pipeline expansion would affect their properties. (Kevin Passon | NEW Media)
