Miriam Wasser
August 21, 2025
Dennis Wamsted, an energy analyst at the nonpartisan Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, further cautioned that building a new pipeline could lead to higher utility bills because the cost of gas is unpredictable. . . Anyone arguing that a new pipeline will lead to lower overall costs for consumers is making “a huge leap of faith,” Wamsted said. . . .
Yet, as policy-makers and the public weigh whether to build a new pipeline, Dolan of the New England Power Generators Association, said right now, it’s largely “an academic question.”
Even if a company wanted to build a pipeline, it would need to find someone willing to sign long-term contracts for the gas. And right now, potential buyers like utilities and power plant owners are uninterested or unable to ink that sort of deal, according to Dolan.
“The president could direct the Army Corps of Engineers to dig a trench from the Marcellus Shale fields to Boston,” Dolan said. “And unless there is a counterparty in Boston willing to sign a 20- or 30-year contract with the pipeline operators, I don’t know a single pipeline company that will lay an ounce of steel in the ground.”