US northeast gas utilities stopping new service

Three municipal natural gas utilities in the US northeast have imposed moratoria on new gas service amid a lack of sufficient natural gas pipeline capacity in the region.

Utility Con Edison in January said that after 15 March it would no longer accept applications for new connections in the majority of its service area in Westchester County, New York, because of pipeline constraints. Later that month Holyoke Gas & Electric in Massachusetts said it was unable to accommodate new gas service because of a lack of availability in the region. And Middleborough Gas & Electric in Massachusetts said this month it would stop accepting requests for new natural gas service, also because of a lack of capacity.

Pipeline constraints in the region even prompted a state emergency response in Rhode Island last month. Utility National Grid on 21 January had to stop gas deliveries to about 7,100 customers in Newport and Middletown because of low linepack on Algonquin Gas Transmission amid high demand upstream. Temperatures there fell to as low as 2°F (-17°C) that night, causing state governor Gina Raimondo to declare an emergency and bring in the National Guard to assist.

Demand for natural gas is outpacing availability, Con Edison said in its moratorium announcement. Those sentiments echo comments made by midstream company Enbridge this month. Chief executive Al Monaco said demand for more capacity in the region is on the rise, while pipeline constraints result in consumers "paying through the nose" for higher-priced peaking supply from oil generation and LNG imports.

"It's never been more clear that we need additional natural gas infrastructure, and nowhere is that more evident than in the US northeast," Monaco said.

But new pipeline development faces an uphill battle in the region, which is a veritable graveyard of projects that have stalled or were cancelled amid environmental opposition, regulatory hurdles and a lack of consistent funding. Progress on Enbridge's own 984mn cf/d (27.8mn m³/d) Access Northeast pipeline halted in June 2017 with the company saying gaps in regional energy policy prevented it from garnering enough funding to operate year-round, instead of just when demand spikes in the wintertime.

Pipeline developers have had some success shepherding brownfield expansions with a limited footprint through the regulatory process. But state environmental agencies have denied key permits for large-scale lines in the region, including the 1 Bcf/d PennEast pipeline, the 628mn cf/d Constitution pipeline and the 500mn cf/d Northern Access pipeline, leaving those projects in regulatory limbo.

Holyoke Gas & Electric said it receives its gas from Tennessee Gas pipeline's Northampton Lateral, which has become severely constrained because of a "dramatic increase in demand over the last two decades." Middleborough Gas & Electric said the interstate natural gas pipeline that feeds its territory" has been at capacity for some time." Con Edison said it would pursue "non-pipeline solutions" to demand through clean energy technology.

Last month the New York Department of Public Service said it would review natural gas supply and demand in Westchester County to determine the changing market conditions that gave rise to Con Edison's moratorium there and develop recommendations.