Guardian Pipeline: To Host Open Houses on New Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Expansion and Extension Project

Contact: Neil Palmer
Neil Palmer & Associates
(262) 821-5088
(414) 640-9351 (mobile)

Cole Buergi
Leonard & Finco Public Relations
(920) 965-7750
(920) 660-6093 (mobile)

Beth Jensen
Guardian Pipeline LLC
(402) 492-3400
(402)871-6037

MILWAUKEE, Monday, August 28, 2006 –Guardian Pipeline, L.L.C. will again host a series of open house meetings to provide stakeholders with information and solicit feedback about the proposed Guardian Expansion and Extension Project (Project). The Project proposes to extend the existing Guardian Pipeline along a 110-mile route from Ixonia, in Jefferson County to the Green Bay area and adding new compression facilities along the existing pipeline in Walworth County , Wisconsin and DeKalb County , Illinois .

Guardian Open House will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the following communities:

Monday August 28, 2006

Radisson Hotel

2040 Airport Drive

Green Bay , WI

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Brownsville Community Club

871 Main Street

Brownsville , Wisconsin

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

St. John’s School

N9273 County Highway Q

Johnsburg , Wisconsin

Thursday, August 31, 2006

LaGrange Town Hall

N7899 County Highway H

Whitewater , Wisconsin

At the meetings landowners, public officials and other stakeholders will be able to obtain information on topics such as need for the pipeline, environmental studies, pipeline design, construction, operation and safety, pipeline easements, schedules and land restoration. The public is welcome to drop by the open houses to learn more about the project from members of the Guardian project team and to provide feedback.

The open houses are part of the continuing effort by Guardian to involve stakeholders in the route selection process and other aspects of the Project. Open House meetings were also held in April and June of 2006.

After receiving input from landowners, government officials and the public and performing the necessary environmental and route studies, the Project team will make modifications to the route as needed. Guardian plans to file a formal application during the fall of 2006 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The FERC could render a decision by the end of 2007. If approved, construction would begin in early 2008. The Project is estimated to cost between $220 and $240 million.

The proposed Project would increase natural gas pipeline transmission capacity and ensure adequate supplies of competitively priced natural gas needed to support Wisconsin ’s growing economy. The selection of Guardian by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation, headquartered in Green Bay , and Milwaukee based We Energies, to supply new natural gas transportation capacity was the result of a 15-month competitive bidding process. The current Guardian Pipeline, which transports natural gas along a 143-mile route from Joliet , Illinois to Ixonia , Wisconsin is 98 percent subscribed.

In Wisconsin , natural gas consumption has increased almost 25 percent since 1990. More than two-thirds of all Wisconsin households use natural gas. Despite a recent series of unseasonably mild winters, residential use of natural gas increased almost 19 percent from 1990 to 2004, as the number of natural gas space heating customers increased by approximately 46 percent. The number of Wisconsin commercial and industrial businesses that use natural gas increased during the same period by almost 43 percent to approximately 160,000 businesses.

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