The export of liquid natural gas (LNG) now expected to be a major component of the Northeast Direct natural gas pipeline project is likely to result in higher domestic prices. “The very facts surrounding the need for additional gas capacity are highly disputed.”
-- Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who is also challenging the legality of the ratepayer-funded pipeline
In her letter, Edge environmental correspondent Mary Douglas writes: "Kinder Morgan would realize a 10 to 14 percent annual return on its investment as a regulated monopoly for the life of the pipeline — 100 years or more ... However, there is plenty of time to put together alternatives, such as a mix of renewables, demand reduction, energy efficiency, market adjustments."
"The six New England states never, as the article stated, made “a decision to impose a charge of dubious legality on all New England ratepayers in order to support the funding of a natural gas pipeline that is planned to traverse Massachusetts."
-- Heather Hunt, executive director of New England States Committee on Electricity
The general public has not been included in the development of energy projects, and in the words of the Conservation Law Foundation, “formulation of and negotiations around [energy] proposals have been conducted almost completely behind closed doors.”
The proposed pipeline route travels through an estimated 20 state-protected wildlife management areas and state forests, municipal watershed protection areas, the reservations and sanctuaries of The Trustees and Mass Audubon, and the Appalachian Trail.
The pipeline proposed by Kinder Morgan would add more than 15 times the expected growth rate in natural gas consumption in New England. This pipeline is providing natural gas for export.
