BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – A Boston-based policy group said Expanding the natural gas pipeline in Massachusetts could do more than lower energy costs.
The “Beacon Hill Institute” took a deeper look into Kinder Morgan’s pipeline proposal. They found that the project could benefit residents in some surprising ways.
It’s a controversial proposal that would cut right through Northern Berkshire and Franklin Counties. The Kinder Morgan pipeline project seeks to bring MORE natural gas to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania.
Boston-based think tank The Beacon Hill Institute found that the plan would do more than lower energy costs here.
The study found that the project would create more than 17-hundred new jobs. Depending on the size of the pipeline, it could virtually eliminate any shortages of natural gas here in the winter time.
State Rep. Thomas Petrolati told 22News, “I believe there is a need because based on what I hear from my constituents, but again this is Franklin County. I don’t want to speak for Franklin County, but I want them to do their due diligence.”
The pipeline proposal has run into significant opposition from western Massachusetts property owners. Kinder Morgan plans to submit a new, modified proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this fall.
