Official sees N.E. energy shortage: Not enough terminals, pipelines, regulator says

[jpak]

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/11/03/business/biz02.txt

BOSTON - New England will need to add liquefied natural gas terminals or significantly expand its gas pipelines - and possibly do both - or the region will likely face natural gas shortages or major price hikes, a key federal official said Friday.

New England is vulnerable because of its location at the tail end of several natural gas pipelines, its dependence on natural gas for both electricity generation and heating, its limited gas storage space and lack of its own geological gas reserves, said Joseph Kelliher, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

As much as 40 percent of New England’s electricity supply comes from natural gas, the single largest source; a substantial portion is imported from Canada. Nuclear power is the second most significant source of electricity at 28 percent, while coal is third at 11.5 percent.

Kelliher’s comments on Friday, at a U.S.-Canadian energy conference in Boston, came as the region continues to grapple with trying to locate LNG terminals to import more natural gas.

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[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. In 5 years, the whole nation will be experiencing nat. gas shortages...

What the hell is the point of building more infrastructure now?
Perhaps they should be spending their time figuring out what we will use when the nat. gas runs out...

[jpak]

2. And one would think that Cape Wind would be good thing for the region.

ugh

[NNadir]

3. I thought they were going renewable. I guess not.

Probably people with large family estates will be able to heat their homes with sustainable wood.

People living in cities, especially poor people, can do whatever it is poor people do when they're deprived.

I am opposed to all fossil fuel installations and believe they should be phased out. This is why I call for the Northeast to build nuclear power plants, just as I call for New Jersey to work to relicense Oyster Creek and to build as many reactors as it takes to make us fossil fuel free.