Pipeline designed to deliver cheap Marcellus Shale gas to the Northeast gets federal approval

Federal energy regulators have approved a $700 million pipeline project designed to ferry cheap Marcellus Shale natural gas from Pennsylvania into high-priced markets in New England and New York.

The project's backers said Wednesday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval means the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline could be operational by next winter.

The lead partners are Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams Partners and Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas. Williams says Marcellus Shale gas is about half the cost of the Gulf of Mexico gas that typically reaches Boston and New York City through the existing pipelines.

The pipeline would run from Pennsylvania's Susquehanna County through New York's Broome, Chenango, and Delaware counties to connect with the existing Tennessee and Iroquois pipelines in Schoharie County, 80 miles southwest of Albany.