Kinder Morgan scraps $3.3bn Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project in US

US-based Kinder Morgan has suspended plans for the $3.3bn Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project as the company could not receive enough contracts with businesses that will buy natural gas from the proposed pipeline.

The proposed project would have included a 30-inch, 350 mile long pipeline running from Wright, New York to Dracut, Massachusetts.

The pipeline is being developed by Kinder Morgan’s subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) by upgrading infrastructure in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut in a bid to help meet increased demand for natural gas.

Kinder Morgan said that the board’s initial approval was based on existing contractual commitments at the time by local gas distribution companies (LDCs) to purchase natural gas from the project.

Despite working for more than two years, TGP failed to get the additional commitments expected.

Commenting on the company’s decision US Senator Edward Markey said: "Using New England as a throughway to export US gas to overseas markets might be good for the bottom lines of pipeline companies, but it could raise prices and be a disaster for consumers and businesses in our region.

"We need to build on the work that we have done in New England to move to a clean energy economy."

Senator Kelly Ayotte said: "I was the first statewide elected official to oppose the pipeline moving forward because of the many unanswered questions and concerns raised by New Hampshire residents who would have been affected by this project, so I am pleased by today’s announcement."

The NED pipeline had been scheduled to commence shipping gas to Boston in 2018, Bloomberg reported.