A study by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (Dem) concludes the state doesn’t need a new natural gas pipeline to keep the lights on, reports the Boston Herald:
Healey is advocating the “de-industrialization of Massachusetts,” said David Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute.
“She wants to exacerbate the existing problem where electric rates are higher than any other state already,” said Tuerck. “She must be caught up in the climate change madness — climate change has become a kind of religion and she is caught up in it.”
Healey’s study, conducted by the Analysis Group Inc., found that spending more on energy efficiency would ensure the electric grid’s reliability while saving ratepayers about $150 million a year and reducing greenhouse gas emissions — while building a pipeline would save closer to $60 million a year without any climate change benefits.
“This study demonstrates that we do not need increased gas capacity to meet electric reliability needs,” Healey said in a statement, “and that electric ratepayers shouldn’t foot the bill for additional pipelines.”
But the Baker administration has revised rules to allow electric companies to invest in natural gas pipelines and the governor has repeatedly backed expanding access to natural gas — as well as hydropower and solar energy — to cut electricity costs.
Healey filed the study with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in its review of Kinder Morgan’s plans to build a gas pipeline across parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Kinder Morgan called the study “flawed,” saying in a statement, “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.”
