Environmental advocates say a planned natural gas pipeline in New England could cost ratepayers more than twice what’s currently projected. And they point to a study that says the pipeline could be unnecessary by as early as 2023.
The Access Northeast pipeline would run through New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Kathryn Eiseman, with one of the environmental groups who sponsored the study, says once you factor in costs like operations and maintenance, the pipeline wouldn’t save ratepayers money at all.
“When you take into [account] all of the costs over the lifetime of the project, the net costs for consumers would be higher, rather than lower, as the pipeline proponents have said.”
The study says natural gas use in New England is expected to decrease sharply over the next five years because of state regulations that call for things like carbon dioxide caps and renewable energy increases.
A spokesperson for Spectra, one of the companies behind the pipeline, says the study overstates the cost of the project, and that the pipeline will give consumers reliable energy for heat and light.
