WESTFIELD – The Municipal Light Board members are inviting local, state and federal representatives to a meeting this fall to discuss the impact of restricted delivery of natural gas to New England that pushes up the price of both gas and electricity.
New England, located at the end of the interstate gas pipeline, sustained a sharp spike in the price of gas this past winter, at a time when gas supplies are abundant, but because of the limited capacity to transport gas to the region.
Commissioner Robert Paul initiated the discussion, stating that it is a regional issue that needs to be resolved at both the state and federal level.
“We had a glut of gas, so why were our prices higher (than any other region of the country),” Paul said. “It’s a regional issue. Why aren’t our legislators doing something about it, take on accountability for this situation?”
Paul said that both the state and federal governments are pushing regulatory action to eliminate coal and oil burning plants to reduce the production of hothouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and to increase gas-turbine electric generation.
“They’re pushing gas for electric generation in New England, but limiting our ability to bring in additional gas supplies,” Paul said. “That’s putting businesses at a disadvantage in this region of the country compared to the rest of the country (which has much lower transportation costs).”
Paul made the motion to invite the legislative delegation, both state and federal, as well as Richard K. Sullivan Jr., Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, as well as the former six-term mayor of Westfield, to a discussion of the regional natural gas distribution system and possible options to bring additional gas supply into New England.
The most expedient option to achieve that goal is through additional pipeline, which are extremely expensive to obtain environmental permitting and to construct. The board discussed that option this past winter when distribution costs resulted in a significant spike in the price of natural gas regionally.
Pipeline construction would require legislative action at the federal level, but Paul said, the state could also take action to make those projects more attractive.
