Lack of NatGas Pipelines Casts Doubt on NE Winter Electric Rates
Contrary to the assurances of charlatans like Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey who tells us new natural gas pipelines are not needed, New England is once again looking down the throat of potential electricity shortages this winter--if we have another winter like that of 2013/2014. ISO New England Inc. (ISONE), the electrical grid operator in the region, issued a statement last week to say they are implementing a 2016-17 Winter Reliability Program to guard against potential electricity shortages because there's not enough natural gas in the region to power electric plants if much of that gas is also heating homes and businesses on cold days. According to ISONE, "Electricity supplies should [not a reassuring word] be sufficient to meet consumer demand for electricity in New England this winter." They then go on to say, "but constraints on the region’s natural gas pipelines could pose a challenge to reliable operations." In other words, if it gets really cold and snowy, we're screwed. So, to fend off that screwing, ISONE has devised a program to load up on oil, of all things, and LNG, to help produce electricity if natgas runs short. Don't say we haven't repeatedly warned New England that without new pipelines they will not only continue to pay 4x what everyone else pays for electricity, at some point there just won't be enough fuel sources to produce electricity and sooner or later New England will have brownouts and/or rolling blackouts--because THEY'RE FOOLS and continue to reject safe, reliable natural gas pipelines...
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