TransCanada Reaches Settlement On Natural Gas Service In Eastern Canada

(RTTNews) - TransCanada Corp. (TRP, TRP.TO) announced Friday that it has reached a settlement with local natural gas distribution companies or LDCs in Ontario and Quebec in connection with the access to Dawn and Niagara supplies and long-term tolls that will allow TransCanada to provide customers with the flexibility to source gas from various geographic locations while ensuring that the tolls for the Mainline are set at levels that recover the costs of providing that flexibility.

The company noted that it has reached an agreement with Union Gas Ltd., Gaz Metro Limited Partnership and Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. that will allow for the development of new capacity through the Parkway to Maple transportation corridor near Toronto. This will result in rate stability on the Mainline with contracts that fully recover TransCanada's costs of providing Mainline natural gas transmission service in the Eastern Triangle. The agreement provides resolution to outstanding disputes between TransCanada and the LDCs relating to tolls and services in the region.

As part of the settlement, TransCanada is committed to providing natural gas pipeline capacity to meet all current and future needs of Eastern gas consumers.

Details of the settlement will be developed in the coming weeks, the company stated.

The firm noted that it intends to immediately begin consulting with all remaining Mainline stakeholders. The settlement must also receive approval from the National Energy Board before being placed into effect in January, 2015. The company expects to file the necessary regulatory applications by the end of 2013.