Kinder Morgan, Berkshire Gas anticipating Northeast Direct Project Start
April 27, 2015
Richard Kinder, CEO of the country’s largest midstream company, Kinder Morgan (KMI), spoke with CNBC last week and affirmed the possibility of starting the Northeast Direct Project soon with a “I think we will. ”
“And the main problem here is it’s just ironic that the highest price for electricity and natural gas in the U.S. is in New England. And just a few 100 miles away you got gas desperate to get out of the Marcellus Utica, selling at a huge discount. And there needs to be a connectivity between the two.
“All of the pipes that run there now, including our own Tennessee system, are completely full in the winter time. All that capacity is spoken for by the LDC. So, if we are going to continue to try to drive price down and to have adequate supply to replace all the coal plants and the nuclear plant that’s being mothballed, we have got to have more natural gas,” said Kinder.
Kinder’s optimistic statements follow KMI’s recent decision to send over 500,000 dth of natural gas/day from anchor shippers specifically for the Northeast Direct project. Berkshire Gas Co has already petitioned the DPU for a 20-year transportation agreement with KMI’s subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co, anticipating the project’s approval and completion.
