DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711290231

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFF HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: EDENTON                           LENGTH:   75 lines

BASNIGHT WANTS FUNDING FOR GAS LINE PIPELINE COULD HELP ATTRACT INDUSTRY, JOBS,OFFICIALS SAY

Sen. Marc Basnight would like to put natural gas on the front burner for state funding that could bring the utility to this industry-starved area within three years.

The news is like a Christmas present for local officials.

``That will be wonderful,'' said Anne-Marie Knighton, city manager for Edenton. ``That will open a whole new dimension for our community and our region. This is the last thing holding us back.''

Basnight will put the issue before the state legislature next spring and hope the funding will become part of next year's budget, said Norma Ware, an attorney with Basnight's office in Raleigh. If that happened, the state would be treading where private gas companies have dared not go.

Companies such as North Carolina Natural Gas have declined to invest in the lines until more industrial customers arrive. Local officials counter that if the gas were here, then more industry would come. Large industries insist on natural gas because it costs about half what electricity does. The northeast is one of the last areas in the state that doesn't have a natural gas pipeline.

``You're not going to get large industries until you have natural gas,'' said Ware.

Basnight has lobbied private companies to bring natural gas to his home region for at least 13 years, said Ware. Now the Senate president pro tempore is raising his voice where he has more clout.

Estimates to run a pipeline from Ahoskie to Edenton and Elizabeth City run from $16 million to $20 million, Ware said. The cost includes not only laying pipe but also buying property for the right-of-way, securing environmental permits and purchasing ``capacity.'' Capacity describes the maximum amount of gas a company must provide a community on its coldest day.

Running the line from Ahoskie would be less expensive than a line from Virginia all the way through Elizabeth City to Edenton, as proposed recently by NCNG, Ware said.

Because of a new state law, NCNG will lose its franchise rights to northeastern North Carolina on July 1, 1998. Ware has talked with three gas companies that serve southeastern Virginia. The company that gets the contract would absorb some of the costs.

``All of the gas companies I've talked to have been very interested,'' Ware said. The pipeline could be in place by 2001, she said.

Basnight's efforts may save Edenton from a downward spiral.

Edenton, with a population of about 5,000, lost 90 jobs when two large industries moved out of town in the last two years. Recently, a bagel processing plant that would have brought 100 jobs decided not to locate there. The lack of natural gas was the main reason, said Knighton.

``So many companies will not even look our way,'' Knighton said.

Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County attract many small businesses but have been unable to recruit many large industries after executives found that the area lacked natural gas.

``Yes, we've lost clients because we did not have natural gas,'' said Randy Harrell, executive director for the Economic Development Commission for Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County. ``If this happens in the next three years, it will come about the same time as the (U.S.) 17 bypass. The timing is excellent.''

NCNG had recently announced a proposal to run a line from Virginia to Elizabeth City at a cost of about $5 million, including distribution lines. It would cost another estimated $5 million for the Virginia companies to run a line to the North Carolina border. The proposal did not extend the line to Edenton.

But NCNG has filed similar proposals before, and company executives admit that Elizabeth City, Edenton and other small towns may never have enough industry to pay for the cost of running pipelines.

NCNG would not likely connect to Elizabeth City for a decade or more, Ware said.

``It's just not happening in the private sector,'' Ware said.

Basnight plans to include money for gas infrastructure in the 1998-99 budget, Ware said. The legislature might also have to pass a law to allow the state to spend money that way. The state has never appropriated money for natural gas.

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