Connecticut Drops Plan to Expand Natural Gas Capacity

Connecticut is cancelling its request for proposals to expand natural gas in the state, in what appears to be a reversal of an energy policy that it had been pursuing, and that the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association opposed.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said it cancelled a request that sought “proposals for natural gas resources, including liquefied natural gas, natural gas pipeline capacity and natural gas storage.”

DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said in an Oct. 25 statement, “While we are not selecting projects under the natural gas RFP [request for proposals] at this time, we are taking steps to secure additional clean energy resources that address gaps in our energy infrastructure.”

The New Haven Register reported on Oct. 26 that Connecticut officials were “abandoning an effort to seek additional natural gas capacity as part of upgrade[s] being made to existing natural gas transmission pipelines owned by Houston-based Spectra Energy.”