![]() ![]() Tim Keefe, vice president of finance and accounting at Vermont Gas, was at the scene. "At least we'll be on the news tomorrow morning," one worker said. He also said customers should not have to pay for a pipeline that was estimated to cost 40 percent more after it was permitted.Ībout two-dozen workers with Over & Under Piping Contractors, one of the construction companies working on the pipeline, took pictures and chatted with the protesters. Micklon said it is contradictory that Vermont has banned the process of hydraulic fracturing but allows fracked natural gas to run through the state. The opportunity is right in front of us–and New England is being denied that opportunity.Support our journalism. With adequate pipeline capacity, access to this low-cost fuel could transform our regional economy and lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs. New England is just 200 miles east of some of the most abundant, low-cost natural gas in the world from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region. What’s even worse: This is an entirely needless problem for our region. It’s why all six New England states rank in the top 10 of US states for most expensive electricity, up to 50 percent higher than the national average. ![]() Additional pipeline capacity could help dramatically reduce those price spikes.įurther, utilities are less able to plan 12 months ahead if energy markets are volatile. In a cold snap like the one we’re facing, the severe constraints on pipeline capacity lead to sudden price spikes, and natural gas that normally costs $3 or $4 jumps to $35. Customers are clearly demanding greater access to natural gas.īut except for a modest increase in capacity on the Algonquin system and for some recent upgrades, increased natural gas pipeline capacity has been thwarted from coming anywhere close to keeping up with increased demand in the region. Natural gas now heats more than 52 percent of all homes in Massachusetts and 54 percent in Rhode Island, according to the Northeast Gas Association.Ĭonnecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have multiple proposals underway to meet thousands of consumers’ demand for expanded access to convenient, affordable natural gas. Since 2000, more than 200,000 residential customers have switched to or added natural gas heating throughout the region. New England has also moved just as aggressively to increase use of natural gas to heat our homes, schools, and businesses. Today, data from ISO-New England, our regional power-grid operator, show that natural gas now produces 50 to 60 percent of the electricity we use in New England on an average day. Our region has aggressively transitioned much of its power generation in the last decade to natural gas to take advantage of the abundant supplies here in the United States as well as the environmental benefits that come with the use of this clean fuel. Andrew Cuomo has relentlessly opposed every reasonable proposal to allow New England to secure the natural gas pipeline capacity we need. ![]() Compared to homeowners in other communities across the country in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, New Englanders are paying hundreds of dollars more every year for electricity and home heating, all because everyone from local environmental extremists to New York Gov. ![]()
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