Gas Pipelines

"Here are photos from our rally with 350 CT and Citizens Campaign for the Environment to protest utility company market manipulation, at Eversource in Hartford. Hartford City Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings spoke at the rally, which was (to our surprise) covered by Fox News, as well as Channel 3."
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Dear Friends,
We had a great turnout for our rally and hearing on the Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) on Thursday, September 7th! Thanks for all who turned out just in time for the sun to break out. So many Connecticut environmental groups were represented: CT Sierra Club (of course), 350CT, LCV, Clean Water Action, CCEJ, CT NOFA, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Consumers for Sensible Energy (thanks for the tee shirts!), Food & Water Watch, and many concerned citizens! (Hope I didn't leave anyone out!)
Kudos for DEEP for putting on numerous hearings on the CES. They were patient while hearing over two thirds of every hearing saying we need more clean energy and efficiency and no more fossil fuel infrastructure. The CES is giving a little more than a wink and a nod to clean renewable energy and still pushing decades worth of natural (methane) gas. This is counter productive. It's taking two steps forward and five back. It's like rooting for both teams in the same baseball game (try that one sometime).

Governor Malloy's administration recently released its long-term energy vision for Connecticut, known as the Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES). Unfortunately, even the administration's own analysis shows the draft energy strategy is not sufficient to protect the climate, and that more clean energy would create jobs, grow the economy, and improve public health.

Instead, under the current draft CES, Connecticut residents would continue to subsidize 900 miles of new gas pipeline infrastructure to deliver fracked gas. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is asking for public comments on the draft energy strategy until September 25, giving us a chance to weigh in for more clean energy and less fracked gas.

For the future, Martha Klein Chapter Chair

1) The CES draft www.ct.gov/deep/energystrategy

2) The Sierra Club reaction to the new CES http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/07/more-clean-energy-needed-draft-comprehensive-energy-strategy

3) Media articles about the CES release http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/environmentalists_critical_of_slow_march_toward_renewable_energy

https://ctmirror.org/2017/07/26/connecticut-updates-goals-for-energy-climate-change/

The Connecticut Sierra Club funded a study of methane gas leaks in the pipeline infrastructure of Hartford. Martha Klein, Beyond Gas Campaign and Chapter Chair, was highlighted on WPLR 99.1 "For The People" radio show/podcast. To listen in, click on the picture to the left and scroll down to "For The People" and go to the 37:50 mark for the interview. The interview is part of the ConnPIRG episode at the top of the podcast list. Martha talks about a study that identifies natural gas leaks in Hartford. She explains how residents' money is going up in the air and then raining down into our environment.

You can also click on the graph above to see a PDF of the Hartford Comparitive Leak Report Graph
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Thursday, May 11, 2017

Media Contact:Emily Pomilio (202) 495-3041, emily.pomilio@sierraclub.org

CT Siting Council Says Killingly Gas Plant Isn’t Needed

Hartford, CT--The Connecticut Siting Council voted today to approve a draft order denying the siting of a proposed 550 MW natural gas power plant in Killingly, Connecticut. The Council found that plant is not needed for energy reliability in Connecticut or the broader New England region. Today's vote comes on the heels of an auction by the grid operator in New England to procure electricity generation resources for the 2020 to 2021 time frame. The proposed Killingly facility participated in the auction but was not deemed to be necessary for grid reliability. Instead, energy efficiency resources and demand response were the only new resources to successfully clear the auction.The auction results provided further evidence that there is not a future for fossil fuels in New England as cleaner resources like renewables come online in order to comply with state renewable portfolio standards.  Following today's vote, the Council must issue its final decision on the siting of the Killingly facility no later than June 1, 2017.  

In response, Martha Klein, Connecticut Chapter Chair for the Sierra Club said the following:

 “Today’s order is an important step in moving Connecticut beyond fossil fuels. As demand for new generation declines, this trend will only continue. We agree that Connecticut does not need new gas facilities like Killingly to keep the lights on. Connecticut’s future is in clean energy, which will protect our health and environment."
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 Proposed Access Northeast pipeline would cost New England Consumers $6.6 billion, not $3.2 billion claimed by pipeline sponsors 

Independent analysis finds Connecticut electric ratepayers could be forced to pay up at least $85 million to cover pipeline costs.
(you can download the report by clicking HERE)

February 7, 2017 – The costs of the proposed Access Northeast pipeline to transport fracked gas into Connecticut and other New England states would be more than double what pipeline sponsors claim -- $6.6 billion versus the projected $3.2 billion – according to a dramatic new report conducted by Synapse Energy Economics. Furthermore, the report projects that the use of natural gas in New England, for electric generation, will decrease by 27% by 2023, compared to 2015, leaving the pipelines underused and unneeded.The report was sponsored by a coalition of environmental and consumer groups, including the Sierra Club of Connecticut, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Sierra Club of Massachusetts, Consumers for Sensible Energy, Pipeline Awareness Network of the Northeast and Mass Energy Consumers Alliance.Rather than save consumers money, as claimed by the pipeline sponsors, the pipeline would increase costs by at least $85 million over the life of the pipeline and possibly add much as $1.9 billion, if Connecticut were to bear a higher share of the pipeline costs, to electric bills in Connecticut, according to the Synapse Report.  “This report tears apart every argument that the pipeline proponents have made,” said Martha Klein, Chair of Sierra Club of Connecticut.  “The pipeline costs will be more than double what the utilities claim, consumer’s electric bills will go up not down, and the pipelines will be underused and unneeded.  The people of Connecticut deserve real solutions that look to the future, not more unneeded fracked gas pipelines that contribute to global warming and harm our environment.” 
(EIA Consumption Estimates shows a net interstate flow of electricity out of the state....for a jpeg of the chart below, click HERE)