GREENFIELD — The controversial Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline may be dead, but a moratorium on new hookups on Berkshire Gas Co.’s system is still in place.
Now, three local legislators are calling for a local hearing on the company’s next biennial report to the state Department of Public Utilities on how the future looks for its natural gas supply and what’s being done to alleviate shortages.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg of Amherst and state Reps. Paul Mark, D-Peru, and Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, made the request Tuesday in a letter to the DPU, which will evaluate and approve the utility company’s report.
Berkshire Gas’ eastern service region includes Greenfield, Montague, Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately in Franklin County, and Amherst, Hadley and Hatfield in Hampshire County.
The moratorium has been in place since the winter of 2014. Columbia Gas Co, which serves Northampton and Easthampton, has imposed a similar moratorium. Business advocates say this stifles economic development, with new projects in Amherst, for example, forced to install propane tanks at extra cost.
Berkshire Gas representatives have argued that the natural gas capacity constraints along the system of pipelines feeding the region that triggered the moratorium remain, and the company is unable to lift the restrictions.
Paradoxically, Kinder Morgan this spring cited lack of demand when it pulled the plug on its proposed pipeline from New York to Dracut, which would have passed through Plainfield and several Franklin County towns.
Some have argued that the moratorium is not necessary, and the company’s system could be bolstered by expanding a liquefied natural gas facility in Whately. The company has said that would not be sufficient to maintain system reliability.
Rosenberg, Kulik and Mark noted public input on the plan is important, and holding the hearing here instead of Boston would ensure the area’s residents are adequately represented.
“The Berkshire Gas Company’s moratorium on new customers in its eastern division has a significant impact on many residents in Franklin and Hampshire Counties,” the letter read. “We are working with the company to ensure that all viable solutions are being examined and a key component of that is the biennial Forecast and Supply plan.”
At the legislators’ urging, the letter notes, the company has expedited the process of filing the report, which will include in-depth analysis of options and partnerships to alleviate the moratorium.