Several area legislators Thursday complained to state regulators that Berkshire Gas Co.’s ongoing moratorium on new hookups is hurting economic development in the region.
Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and state Reps. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, and Paul Mark, D-Peru, filed a brief with the Department of Public Utilities on the Berkshire Gas Long-Range Forecast and Supply Plan through 2021.
“We are hopeful, that while the DPU weighs the long range forecast and supply plan for Berkshire Gas that they identify a way forward for ending the moratorium as soon as possible to reduce the barriers to economic development and building businesses in the Pioneer Valley,” said Rosenberg, D-Amherst.
The brief says a continued and open-ended moratorium is unacceptable and asks regulators to quickly identify a way to end the moratorium as soon as possible.
The moratorium, in place since December 2014, affects Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield and Sunderland, among other communities.