AMHERST — The sudden suspension of the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, which was supposed to run through Hampshire and Franklin counties, is not altering moratoriums on new customers put in place by two local natural gas suppliers.
At both Olympia Place and One East Pleasant, two large mixed-use projects under construction, underground propane tanks will be used to provide heat for the buildings.
Even though Archipelago Investments LLC intended to have natural gas at both sites, the developer is among those throughout the Pioneer Valley continuing to be impacted by the continuing moratoriums.
Both Columbia Gas, which serves Northampton and Easthampton, and Berkshire Gas, which supplies Amherst and Hadley, are reaffirming moratoriums on new customers and expanded capacity for existing customers following the decision by Kinder Morgan, of Houston, to abandon construction of the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline.
“Without a doubt, the moratorium has both immediate and long-lasting impact on development,” said Jerry Guidera, interim executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. “My concern is that we just don’t need another hurdle in our efforts to increase development in the community, and in the region.”
Archipelago, which will break ground on the 76-unit One East Pleasant mixed-use project this summer, will put a propane tank underground, which carries greater costs and bigger risks, Guidera said. This follows a similar decision at Olympia Place, the 75-unit, 236-bed project for college students on Olympia Drive that will be ready for occupancy this fall.
Amherst Business Improvement District Executive Director Sarah la Cour said in a dense area like downtown it is difficult to put in propane tanks.
La Cour said she will call on the gas companies to end their moratoriums.
“They will have to come up with something else, and we will urge them to come up with that as soon as possible. Economically, it’s stifling,” la Cour said.
At Village Hill in Northampton, where 21 homes are being built as part of Northview by Pecoy Homes of West Springfield, natural gas will be provided because it was pre-approved, said Suzanne Clarke, Pecoy’s director of sales.
But if the moratorium remains in place, additional development may be affected. “Going forward to develop further we may see future impacts,” Clarke said.
This is similar to what happened in Amherst’s Mill District, where W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones said that Bread & Butter restaurant, which opened in early 2015, was able to get natural gas, but the Atkins Farms Country Market satellite store, which arrived in late summer, is relying on propane.
“Unlike most sites in downtown Amherst, Atkins had space enough to bury two huge propane tanks to satisfy their needs,” Jones said. “Propane is just not feasible in many locations.”
While it’s critical that the gas moratorium be lifted, Jones said, she isn’t sure how it will happen, as the gas companies have claimed there is insufficient supply, even though Kinder Morgan officials cited the lack of potential new customers as a reason to halt the pipeline.
“It will be interesting to see when and how the moratorium is lifted, since it was said to be caused by lack of supply, but the demand for the new gas pipeline capacity did not seem to support that claim,” Jones said.
Michael West, spokesman for Avangrid, the parent company of Berkshire Gas, said the moratorium will stay and that capacity is still an issue.
“The hope was that the Kinder Morgan pipeline would help lift the moratorium,” West said. “We thought it was a great opportunity to bring new options to customers. We are a distribution company, we don’t explore gas, we don’t transmit gas in that fashion, we just deliver it.”
There are sufficient supplies to continue serving people who already have connections. “The general customer who has service now need not worry about service,” West said.
Though Berkshire Gas supported the pipeline and said it would help provide capacity for its customers, Columbia Gas never made the argument that the moratorium goes away with the pipeline.
“The short answer is no, because the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline was not the solution to the moratorium,” said Sheila Doiron, spokeswoman for Columbia. “We couldn’t have lifted the moratorium even if it was built.”
Doiron explained that Columbia gets its supply for Northampton and Easthampton from the Northampton Lateral, a spur that serves four companies from a pipeline near the Connecticut border,
“That’s the bottleneck for us. That lateral has reached its maximum capacity,” Doiron said.
While Columbia won’t lift the moratorium or set a timeline, it has been involved in a comprehensive analysis to find solutions. These include negotiating for more capacity in the spur and having customers switch to oil at peak times.
The fixing of leaks in the existing pipes, Doiron said, would provide an insignificant amount of gas compared to the need for more capacity.
Any solution is not easy to find, she said.
“It’s a very complex issue involving multiple parties that might involve building a new pipeline,” Doiron said.
And Doiron said she appreciates the patience of communities in finding a solution. “It’s not in our business plan to say ‘no’ to new customers,” Doiron said.
The decision to suspend the pipeline project was greeted by many with satisfaction, including State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, who described April 20, 2016, as a “banner day.”
“Harriet Tubman is going to be on the $20 bill, and the pipeline was stopped,” Story said.
Though Kinder Morgan won’t acknowledge the hostile environment it encountered, Story said there is no doubt the activism against the pipeline played a significant role.
“It means we won’t have years of disruptions and legal battles and people throwing themselves in front of front-end loaders. It would have gotten ugly,” Story said.
“This is a happy day for those of us in western Massachusetts,” Story added.
Story said she would like to now see the gas companies move quickly toward allowing new customers to be brought on line.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, issued a statement Wednesday calling on Berkshire Gas to lift the moratorium, which he described as constraining economic development in Western Massachusetts.
State Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, said he isn’t sure how the moratoriums come to an end, but strategies to do so should begin soon.
“I would encourage those companies and legislative leaders to schedule a meeting soon and see if we can come up with a solution to the moratorium,” Kocot said.
Because Kocot serves as chairman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, which is continuing to review a smaller pipeline that would go through state-owned conservation land in Sandisfield, he can’t express his personal views on the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline.
But Kocot said the end of the Kinder Morgan pipeline doesn’t mean natural gas will be in short supply, citing a report from Attorney General Maura Healey last fall showing the state’s gas supply didn’t need to be increased. He also referenced legislation signed by Gov. Charlie Baker to increase the number of solar projects, and the omnibus energy bill in the Legislature.
“We are working on proposed comprehensive energy legislation which should move us beyond the current status quo that’s not as dependent on fossil fuels,” Kocot said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
