Kinder Morgan Pipeline Project Is Terminated

The Kinder Morgan pipeline project is officially over after its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas, notified the agency that it was withdrawing its application. The controversial Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline, which would have run from Wright, NY to Dracut, MA, was suspended in April.

In a letter to the Federal Regulatory Commission on Monday, the deputy general of the Tennessee Gas Company, J. Curtis Moffatt, officially notified Kinder Morgan that the pipeline project would be terminated.

The company first filed to build the pipeline on Nov. 20, 2015. The initiative first began to take shape in July 2015 when Kinder Morgan gave Tennessee Gas the authorization to move forward with the $3.3 million project.

However, on April 23, Kinder Morgan suspended work on the project citing inadequate commitments from perspective customers. At that time, the company said that other expected commitments from additional gas distribution companies and other market participants had not followed through.

Local environmentalists, town officials, and rival energy sectors initially questioned the cost of the pipeline and the wisdom of increasing the region’s dependence on natural gas. Kinder Morgan was hopeful the pipeline would help relieve the high cost of gas and electricity in the area, as well as address some natural gas transportation problems in the Northeast.

Photo courtesy of Brian Cantoni via Flickr