Opponents of the Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline got a boost from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who on Wednesday released a study commissioned by her office that claims a new pipeline is not the best solution to New England’s energy needs.
“This study demonstrates that we do not need increased gas capacity to meet electric reliability needs, and that electric ratepayers shouldn’t foot the bill for additional pipelines,” Healey said, in announcing that the 80-page analysis would be submitted immediately to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Kinder Morgan is expected to file its formal application with FERC on Friday for construction of the 30-inch interstate pipeline that would enter New England at the Massachusetts border with New York, span 80 miles across southern New Hampshire and dip back into Massachusetts to terminate at Dracut.
A Kinder Morgan spokesperson called the study “seriously flawed” and said, “Its recommendations will do nothing to lower unnecessarily high electricity costs for ratepayers or provide long-term solutions to the region’s chronic energy problems and environmental challenges.”
The study was conducted by the Analysis Group, a Boston-based economic and financial consulting firm, and includes an evaluation of all available options to meet electric reliability needs throughout New England, including natural gas (both pipeline and liquefied natural gas), oil, hydro imports, energy efficiency, lowering demand and expanding renewables.
A new interstate pipeline would reduce the price of wholesale electricity, the report states, but would require up-front and long-term ratepayer commitments that offset the savings.
In addition, the pipeline solution would result in greenhouse gas emissions that would likely exceed the region’s targets for carbon reduction, and impose costs on electric ratepayers for compliance with programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
“This study demonstrates that a much more cost-effective solution is to embrace energy efficiency and demand-response programs that protect ratepayers and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Healey said.
The leader of New Hampshire’s statewide Chamber of Commerce, the Business and Industry Association, says the Analysis Group study ignores the price relief New Hampshire electricity customers would experience from an ample supply of natural gas throughout the year.
“Even if the Mass AG’s analysis is correct — that increased gas capacity is not needed to meet electric reliability needs — increased natural gas pipeline and electric transmission infrastructure is absolutely needed if New England ever hopes to achieve lower electric energy prices,” said BIA president Jim Roche. “Energy efficiency and demand response are clearly helpful, but they don’t solve the problem.”
Kinder Morgan spokesman Richard Wheatley said the Bay State findings are contradicted by several other studies, including one prepared for the state’s Department of Energy Resources, all of which found that Massachusetts and New England need substantially more natural gas capacity.
The staff of New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission has concluded that Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct project is New England’s best bet for lowering electricity prices and improving grid reliability.
A regional group organized as the Coalition to Lower Energy Costs, led by attorneys at the Portland-based law firm Preti Flaherty, which also represents Kinder Morgan, has advocated for the Northeast Energy Direct project and another proposed by Spectra Energy. The coalition argues the region needs to add 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas capacity to bring costs in line with other regions of the country.
Maine’s paper industry has backed that approach, too. Russ Drechsel, president of UPM Madison, touted a need to add that amount of gas pipeline capacity during a summit earlier this week.
Massachusetts accounts for almost half of the electricity load in the region, which is served mostly by natural gas-fired generators. It makes the state particularly important in regional energy talks.
The region’s power grid operator, ISO New England, has also underscored the need for expanding natural gas infrastructure. But NED opponents have maintained that expansion of existing pipelines, and use of liquefied natural gas in the winter, are better solutions than a new pipeline.
“The attorney general’s study appears to reinforce what we’ve been saying all along,” said Katy Eiseman, president of the Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast. “That Kinder Morgan’s proposed NED project is extremely oversized and inappropriate as any part of our region’s energy plan.”
Gov. Maggie Hassan urged FERC to give the report full consideration.
“The report’s conclusion reiterates concerns voiced by potentially affected New Hampshire communities about the company’s case for the pipeline,” said Hassan’s spokesman William Hinkle, “and Governor Hassan continues to believe that FERC should take these concerns very seriously.”
dsolomon@unionleader.com
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BDN staff writer Darren Fishell contributed to this report.