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City explains plan to replace aging Magma‑area gas line, citing capacity needs for new industry
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Summary
Energy staff told council the city will abandon about 4 miles of 1960s-era 4‑inch pipeline in the Magma service area and replace it with a larger diameter (up to 12‑inch) line to improve pressure and serve growing residential and industrial customers (including LG and CMC Steel); funding will come from the utility capital program and be repaid by Magma customer rates.
Scott Boucher, the city's Energy and Sustainability Director, briefed the council that the city plans to abandon about four miles of old 4‑inch pipe installed in the 1960s and replace it with a larger diameter line (staff proposed upsizing to 12‑inch in places) in the Magma service territory.
Boucher said the city purchased the Magma service territory in 1979 and annual audits by the Arizona Corporation Commission found insufficient historical pressure documentation for the older pipe, so the city committed to replacement as part of its master plan. "That piece of pipe...we did not have sufficient records that came over with the purchase to prove the pressure that that pipe could operate at," Boucher said.
Staff explained the upgrade responds to rapid growth in the Magma territory (about 2,000 new customers per year for a decade) and to serve large industrial users, including an LG battery plant in Queen Creek beginning gas service later that month and CMC Steel in the city limits but within Magma territory. The project is intended to improve capacity and winter reliability when demand spikes.
Funding for the work will come from the utility capital program; costs are repaid through utility rates charged to Magma customers, staff said. The project was described as part of the city’s longer‑term master plan for gas infrastructure and necessary to meet projected future demand.
There was no formal council vote tied to the presentation; staff answered council questions about system sizing and affirmed the project connects with planned north‑south distribution spines.
Next steps: staff will continue project design and bring related actions to council as required for approvals and contracting.
