Regulators OK Gas Pipeline Expansion

Federal energy regulators have cleared a huge Rockies-to-California natural gas pipeline expansion project to begin service May 1.

The $1.2-billion pipeline expansion will more than double the volume of gas-carrying capacity on the Kern River Gas Transmission Co. pipeline, offering West Coast consumers and power plant owners new gas supplies that would help help keep a lid on gas and power prices.

Kern River is a unit of Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The pipeline runs from southwestern Wyoming to California and will have a capacity of 1.73 billion cubic feet of gas a day.