State-funded report recommends big increase in gas pipeline capacity

A report commissioned by the Patrick administration and released Thursday, less than an hour before Charlie Baker’s inauguration as governor, shows the need for a significant increase in natural gas capacity to help fuel local power plants on cold days.Peter Shattuck, clean energy initiative director at the nonprofit Acadia Center, said the report did not consider the recent worldwide plunge in oil prices or fully assess other energy projects that could eventually come online.

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“It’s important for the governors . . . to look at all the alternatives before they make a significant gamble on gas,” he said. “I don’t think the study does that.”