US Chamber sees need for more natural gas pipelines

Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions should not stop the construction of natural gas pipelines in the US northeast, including states covered by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a major US business group says.

A lack of pipeline infrastructure has led to untenable electricity prices in the northeast and new projects are needed to reverse the problem, the US Chamber of Commerce said today in a report from its Institute for 21st Century Energy.

The report criticizes environmentalists for opposing new fossil-fuel installations.

"As a result, residents in the northeast are paying the highest electricity rates in the continental US, with no relief in sight if infrastructure is not built," said Karen Harbert, president of the institute.

Increased use of US gas has not led to higher GHG emissions but instead has helped lower US emissions to mid-1990s levels by reducing consumption of coal for electricity generation, the report said. While overall US emissions are lower, natural gas emissions have risen each year since 2009 and almost equaled coal in 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Environmentalists say that northeastern states could not meet their GHG reduction goals if proposed pipelines were built.

"Not only can we not afford more pipeline capacity, but we need to reduce the over-reliance that has developed in the northeast on this one fuel source," said Daniel Sosland, president of the Acadia Center, an advocacy group that promotes clean energy use in the US northeast.

Of the 10 states with the highest electricity rates, seven are in the US northeast, the report said, citing EIA data. Of those, six — Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — are members RGGI, a nine-state program aimed at cutting CO2 emissions from power plants in the US northeast.

The choice to not build new gas pipelines would cost over 78,000 jobs and $7.6bn in GDP by 2020, the report said. Northeast residents pay 29pc more for natural gas than the US average, and 44pc more for their electricity, the report said.

RGGI officials declined to comment.

The report focused on two specific pipeline projects, the Constitution Pipeline and Access Northeast. New York state denied Constitution a key permit last April to developer Williams Company to ship gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale formation into the state. Access Northeast remains hampered by recent decision by courts and regulators in New England states, which have made it difficult for the project to secure contracts with local utilities.

Related News