The Board of Directors of Kinder Morgan has voted to suspend further work and expenditures on a proposed natural gas pipeline that would have carried 1.3 billion cubic feet of fracked natural gas per day from Pennsylvania to the Northeast, the company announced late Wednesday afternoon.
Less than a year ago, the company authorized its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, to move forward with a multi-billion dollar investment in pipeline capacity from Wright, New York to Dracut, Massachusetts. Tennessee Gas in November filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking permission to construct a 415-mile, 30-inch pipeline through parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
BOSTON – Kinder Morgan suspended further work and spending on its Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline project Wednesday, citing inadequate commitments from prospective customers. The line would help Massachusetts and New England meet energy needs but has been met by protests and uncooperative landowners across the state.
Less than a year ago, in July 2015, the company's directors authorized its Tennessee Gas Pipeline unit to pursue the $3.3 billion project to run a pipeline from Wright, New York, across Western Massachusetts and into New Hampshire just east of the Connecticut River, coming back into the Bay State in Dracut, near Lowell. On Wednesday, Kinder Morgan said that approval was based on contractual commitments at the time and expected to sign up more customers from gas and electricity distribution companies and other "market participants" in New England.
