Does Aquidneck Island need more natural gas?

PROVIDENCE — Is the answer to a projected shortfall in natural gas supplies on Aquidneck Island a new facility that can tap into liquefied stores of the fossil fuel, or can a solution be found by tamping down usage, converting more customers to electric heat and putting an end to new gas connections?

The question is being raised in response to a proposal filed by National Grid with the state Public Utilities Commission that, if approved, would allow the utility to take the first steps in spending $54.5 million over the next three years on a project aimed at closing the potential gap in supplies and creating enough of a cushion to allow gas service to be expanded to even more customers on the island.

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“We look at the Aquidneck Island case as really being representative of this broader concern of whether it makes sense to keep building gas infrastructure,” said Hank Webster, Acadia’s Rhode Island director. “The community has expressed a preference that the infrastructure does not get built. But it seems like this filing is taking us in the opposite direction.”

Read the full article in The Providence Journal here.