FUELS
BY STEPHEN BENNETT
The Distrigas LNG Import Terminal in Everett, Mass., serves nearly all of the gas utilities in New England and also key power producers. Photo courtesy of Distrigas/GDF Suez Gas NA .
14 JANUARY 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
T
he fuel oil industry is fighting proposals to build
natural gas pipelines in New England, saying addi-
tional pipeline capacity is not needed. The indus-
try received important support for that position
from the Massachusetts attorney general, but the fight
is far from over, said Michael Ferrante, president of the
Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association.
"It's very, very good news," Ferrante said of the attorney
general's finding. "It's not the end game by any stretch, but
it's a very, very important obstacle for these utilities and
these pipeline companies to overcome."
Kinder Morgan, a pipeline and terminal company
that is proposing the largest pipeline, announced two
days after the release of the attorney general's report that
its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, had
filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission for the pipeline, which it is calling the
Northeast Energy Direct Project. Kinder Morgan says
the proposed pipeline would ease "natural gas capacity
constraints," providing fuel for electricity generation, and
would result in lower electricity and lower natural gas
prices for consumers.
But the study commissioned by Massachusetts Attorney
General Maura Healey, who by law represents consumers
in utility cases, concluded that the state can meet its energy
needs and decrease costs without building new natural gas
THE GAS PIPELINE ALTERNATIVE
Massachusetts attorney general: Expanded pipeline capacity
for natural gas is 'not needed'
