Florida Gas issues shipper alert due to warm temps

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Florida Gas Transmission on Wednesday issued a warning to natural gas shippers on its pipeline system due to low linepack and warm weather forecast for the state for the next few days.

The company issued an overage alert at 25 percent tolerance, meaning shippers must stay within 25 percent of scheduled volumes in order to maintain system integrity, the company said in a Web site posting.

Alerts, also called critical days, require natural gas shippers to adhere carefully to scheduled quantities. An overage alert signals that taking excess quantities offline would be harmful.

Florida Gas regularly issues shipper alerts as temperatures in the state vary extremely from normal, boosting gas and power demand as customers crank up air conditioners in spring and summer and heaters in the winter.

As parts of the Northeast returned to cooler weather on Wednesday, warm, moist air continued across the South, according to AccuWeather.com.

While high temperatures in major Florida cities were seen peaking in the mid-80s Fahrenheit, "RealFeel" readings that measure heat and humidity levels were expected to make it feel more like more than 90 degrees F in some areas, the forecaster said.

The 5,000-mile Florida Gas Transmission system runs from southern Texas to southern Florida, with a mainline capacity of 2.3 billion cubic feet per day.

The line is owned by Citrus Corp, which is owned by Southern Union Co's SUG.N Panhandle Energy and El Paso Corp EP.N. (Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; Editing by Walter Bagley)