LNG firm files notice with feds Quoddy Bay, LLC, has plans for tribal land at Pleasant Point

An Oklahoma City company on Friday became the first firm trying to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal on Passamaquoddy Bay to file a formal notice about its intent with federal regulators.

Quoddy Bay, LLC, hopes to build an LNG terminal on Passamaquoddy tribal land at Pleasant Point in Washington County. On Friday it filed a formal pre-application letter about the proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C.

“We’re thrilled to initiate the structured, transparent, federal permitting process to bring this significant development to Maine,” Brian Smith, Quoddy Bay project manager, said in a prepared statement.

He went on to say that the filing was evidence of the firm’s commitment to economic growth in Washington County, and to helping provide clean, reliable energy to New England.

According to FERC’s Web site, the terminal at Split Rock, at the southern tip of the reservation, would have the capacity to handle 500 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. The price of natural gas fell 14.8 cents Friday to $13.633 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Quoddy Bay’s statement indicates the company plans to construct a cryogenic transfer line that will carry LNG offloaded at the terminal to a storage facility one mile away in Perry.

Two other developers also have publicized their plans to build LNG terminals on the western shore of Passamaquoddy Bay.

Maine-based Calais LNG hopes to build a terminal with a capacity of 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day at the Calais village of Red Beach. Downeast LNG of Washington, D.C., intends to build a terminal with half that capacity at Mill Cove in Robbinston.

FERC officials have said any developer hoping to build an LNG terminal in the United States has about six months after it formally notifies FERC of its intent to file a formal application with the agency.

The public will be able to submit comments about Quoddy Bay’s proposal before the developer submits a formal application.

According to Quoddy Bay’s prepared statement, the firm has offered to pay 85 percent of Perry’s tax revenues and to provide the town a $1 million local economic development package.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point will receive lease payments totaling up to $12 million a year, it indicated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.