Regional Energy Group Calls for Actual Rate Payer Benefits From Gas Pipeline Proposals Before Maine Public Utilities Commission
BANGOR, Maine, Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The four proposals submitted by major gas pipeline companies to the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) under the State's Energy Cost Reduction Act should provide evidence that they will actually deliver financial benefits to end-users, according to a regional energy organization.
In a filing submitted to the Maine PUC, Northeast Energy Solutions (NEES) states that "none of the (current) proposals for gas pipeline capacity has sufficient information to determine whether anything, other than speculative benefits, will be delivered to consumers…"
The Commission is currently reviewing the proposals and is expected to determine if any of them could achieve benefits to Maine and the region.
The proposed gas pipeline expansion projects submitted to the Maine PUC were the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline Project, the Atlantic Bridge Project, the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project, and the TGP Expansion.
Vincent DeVito, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs who is the attorney representing NEES, suggested that the Commission require that the companies provide "a deeper evaluation of purported benefits and better illustration of reasonable costs allocation to beneficiaries."
DeVito said such a thorough evaluation "will show that the proposals do not offer genuine benefits," in their current state, to Maine and the other New England states.
NEES set forth the following questions for evaluating the current proposals:
- Do the projects protect ratepayers from market volatility and correlating price increases?
- What are the expected likely impacts on energy prices?
- Will the purported benefits likely overcome the financial burden placed on the state?
- Will the costs of the project be fully born by Maine consumers?
- Does new pipeline capacity in the Northeast equate to lower prices?
- Will the companies include a guarantee of lower energy costs?
- What are the environmental attributes, benefits, and risks?
The Maine PUC is considering whether to use its authority to purchase up to $1.5 billion in pipeline capacity over 20 years. Certain regional pipeline expansion proposals traveling through a slew of Northeastern states are asking for a capacity commitment by the state in order to support their pipeline expansion plans before other regulators.
One such proposal included a suite of standard industry agreements offering the state to buy capacity in Tennessee Gas Pipeline's (TGP) proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. Last September, TGP initially asked Maine regulators to decide by the end of November about charging electricity ratepayers to pay for NED - that request was submitted only two days after TGP filed it pre-application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
NEES was established to provide sound analysis, effective advocacy, and public education related to proposed energy transport projects in the Northeast.
CONTACT: Barry Wanger, 1-617-965-6469, [email protected]
SOURCE Northeast Energy Solutions (NEES)
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