Hartford Business Journal
August 27, 2015
A new report commissioned by a coalition of industry groups concludes that a failure to invest in natural gas and electricity infrastructure in New England will cost businesses and households billions of dollars in higher energy costs by 2020.
Investment could also create or save as many as 168,000 permanent and temporary jobs, according to the New England Coalition for Affordable Energy, whose membership includes the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
The study compares two scenarios. The first scenario is that energy infrastructure levels remain where they are today. The second assumes a 43 percent expansion in natural pipeline capacity, 1,360 megawatts of added wind energy, 920 megawatts of added nonrenewable generation, and a 500-megawatt addition of electricity imports from New York or Canada.
Adding that capacity would generate approximately $9 billion in construction activity, the study said.
The study’s authors noted that there are six proposed major New England infrastructure projects, including Northern Pass, that are expected to mitigate some of the financial and economic impacts.