PIPELINE: Urgent Action Needed!
Three gas companies (gas LDCs) serving customers in different parts of the Commonwealth have formally requested permission from the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Utilities (DPU) to buy gas from the proposed Kinder Morgan/TGP pipeline–the Northeast Energy Direct, or NED. Cases before the DPU are known as dockets.
If these contracts to purchase gas (known as Precedent Agreements) are not approved, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will be unlikely to approve the NED project.
Your help is needed NOW! Deadlines are as soon as May 5th.
* Comment as a member of the public on any or all of the DPU dockets. If you are a customer of any of the LDCs (Boston Gas, Columbia Gas, or Berkshire Gas), and/or you are an impacted resident on the pipeline, make sure to include that in your comments. Two of the comment deadlines are May 5!
* Join PLAN-NE (Pipeline Awareness Network for the Northeast), which will apply to be a legal intervenor in the dockets. Although donations to the Legal Fund are needed, becoming a member is free; your indentity will be kept private; and larger membership will help PLAN in its intervention.
* If your town or city is a customer of any of these gas companies, reach out to your town officials to join PLAN’s intervention or to explore that possibility by meeting with PLAN’s attorney.
* Donate to the PLAN-NE Legal Fund.
More details, talking points, links for comments, and step-by-step HERE:
http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/what-can-we-do/
Join PLAN-NE HERE: https://plan4ne.wordpress.com/join-us/
MORE NED BREAKING NEWS
Governor Baker has opened the “investigation” docket at the DPU that he has been talking about for months. The DPU will look into regulatory changes that would allow electric utilities to contract directly with gas pipeline companies, such as Kinder Morgan and Spectra, to buy gas to generate electricity.
The docket will also investigate the possibility of imposing a tariff on electricity users to pay for the construction of privately owned, for-profit, gas pipelines. This also has a deadline soon for comments. To learn more and to act go here.
Enter 15-37 as the docket #.
http://web1.env.state.ma.us/DPU/FileRoomAPI/api/Attachments/Get/?path=15-37%2fnotice_of_inv_042715.pdf
PLAN-NE is asking that we include in our comments a request to delay dockets 15-34, 15-39, and 15-48 (the dockets regarding proposed gas contracts by Berkshire Gas, Boston Gas, and Columbia Gas with Kinder Morgan) until AFTER Docket 15-37 is decided. This is because the participation of electric companies as gas purchasers will be pivotal in whether the pipeline can get enough subscribers to win FERC approval.
