Not everyone is happy that Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project has been stopped.
The Labor International Union of North America, which represents about 6,500 workers throughout New England and western New York, had anticipated “thousands of good, family-supporting construction jobs” to build, install and oversee the 416-mile NED pipeline from Pennsylvania to Dracut, said Adam J. Lupino, regional policy coordinator for the union.
“We are obviously disappointed with the decision,” he said, “but sometimes, there are obvious financial realities that have to be faced.
“We are still of the belief that there is a capacity shortage on the current natural gas infrastructure, and on its ability to connect to new customers and businesses,” he said, pointing to the Berkshire Gas moratorium as one example. Berkshire Gas, which had contracted capacity on the proposed pipeline, announced a moratorium on all new natural gas service in Franklin and Hampshire counties in 2014 and 2015.
Berkshire Gas said without any new pipeline capacity added over the last two decades, it was reaching full capacity and couldn’t commit to delivering more natural gas than that used by current customers. If the pipeline were built, the moratorium might have been lifted by Nov. 1, 2018 at the earliest, Berkshire Gas says in a news statement on its website. “Should the project not be built, the moratorium will continue indefinitely,” it added.
Lupino said, “As nuclear and coal plants start to come off line, if we’re not replacing (that energy), it creates a problem for power generation and gas distribution. We feel today that consumers and businesses are the big losers.”
Beyond jobs that would have come with the pipeline, he said, the availability of more natural gas might have brought more investment to the region, and more manufacturing jobs.
Lupino said the union’s laborers represent all energy, from nuclear energy to solar, hydro and wind power.
“We’re disappointed, but also we’re not going to stop supporting solutions that include natural gas,” he said. “We are going to be very much supporting natural gas initiatives in New England.”