A lack of interstate natural gas pipelines in the US Northeast has led to some of the nation’s highest electricity costs, and the situation will become worse if more are not built, the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy warned in an Apr. 24 report.
Not constructing more gas pipelines will cost the region more than 78,000 jobs generating $4.4 billion in salaries and reduce US gross domestic product by an estimated $7.6 billion by 2020, the report said.
“Environmental groups seeking to ‘keep it in the ground’ are fighting to block virtually every project that would bring additional gas into in the Northeast,” Institute Pres. Karen A. Harbert said. “As a result, residents are paying the highest electricity rates in the continental US, with no relief in sight if infrastructure is not built.”
Continued development of gas from tight shale formations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and elsewhere could be used to relieve capacity problems in the Northeast, but continued legal challenges and political opposition have stalled or slowed planned projects such as the Constitution pipeline and Access Northeast pipeline, the report said.
“As the regulatory and price environment continues to encourage the use of gas, Northeast states will find themselves increasingly starved of the energy needed to power the economy and keep the lights on,” said Harbert.
The Institute issued the latest report in its Energy Accountability Series the same day that Montreal gas utility Gaz Metro announced completion of a 2014 LNG plant expansion that will effectively triple production and deliveries to more than 9 bcfe. Quebec’s Investment Development Office holds 42% interest in the expanded plant.
“We now are in a position to maximize the potential of LNG and are more capable than ever of meeting the energy needs of mines and industries far from the gas network as well as those in the heavy road and maritime transportation sector,” Gaz Metro Pres. Sophie Brochu said.
“By replacing higher-emission forms of energy such as fuel oil, [LNG] reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 32%, as well as considerably reducing emissions of other atmospheric pollutants,” she said.
Gaz Metro is Quebec’s biggest local distribution company with more than 10,000 km of underground pipelines serving 300 municipalities and 205,000 customers. The company also has more than 315,000 electricity and gas customers across the US border in Vermont.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].