But the region's existing network of pipelines won't be able to transmit that much natural gas, especially from November to March, when gas is used to produce electricity and to heat people's homes. New England gets its natural gas through five interstate pipelines that transmit gas from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, from western Canada, and from Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. Tankers also bring liquefied natural gas from Trinidad into Everett, north of Boston. About 2,200 miles of natural gas pipelines already exist in New England, but Richard Levitan, president of the firm that prepared the report for ISO New England, said another 50 or 100 miles will be needed by 2005 to carry enough natural gas to satisfy regional demand. Anita Flanagan, spokeswoman for the Shelton, Conn.-based Iroquois Pipeline Operating Co., said it's one thing to propose new pipelines, but quite another to actually build them.
Cost is one obstacle.
Environmental permitting processes are another. Local, state and federal reviews can delay plant construction for years, said Flanagan. Iroquois' Bronx pipeline was proposed in April 2000, but if all goes as planned, it won't open until late 2002. But ISO Chairman William Berry said companies are finding it profitable to use natural gas to produce electricity because it's more efficient and cleaner-burning than oil or coal. That's why power plants built recently in Dighton and Tiverton, R.I., and those under construction in Everett and Southbridge are all gas-fired, Berry said.