At a time when many states in the Northeast are actively trying to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels to help fight climate change, the company that owns a major natural gas pipeline in the region wants to expand the system and bring in more fracked gas.” the proposal from Enbridge — a large Canadian energy company with fossil fuel infrastructure throughout the U.S. — would involve substantial upgrades on the Algonquin Gas Transmission line.
But for environmentalists, building new gas infrastructure is unnecessary and antithetical to the stated carbon reduction goals of many states in the region.to the stated carbon reduction goals of many states in the region. Natural gas is measured in “dekatherms,” and the Algonquin pipeline currently can carry about 3 million dekatherms per day, or about 3.12 billion cubic feet of gas.
According to Enbridge, despite state climate commitments, demand for natural gas is projected to increase in the near future. And a failure to meet that demand, the company says, will result in even higher energy prices and could put electric reliability at risk.It “will provide New England with an opportunity to secure a cost effective, regionally produced, environmentally responsible source of clean-burning natural gas to support the current and future demand for energy,” the company wrote.
Though not explicitly stated in Enbridge’s description of the project, some energy experts believe Enbridge may also be hedging its bets in the case that