Gas Pipeline Expansion in Wrentham: Cost, Need, and Energy Future

At the November 4 Select Board meeting, representatives from Enbridge’s Algonquin Gas Transmission subsidiary presented plans for a multi-state, multi-million-dollar pipeline upgrade, a small segment of which passes through West Wrentham, crossing Bellingham’s Washington Street, then Wrentham’s West Street and Spring Street before passing into Rhode Island.

Despite the company’s arguments, the project’s necessity is challenged by clean energy advocates such as Acadia Center, a non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization focused on the clean energy transition in the Northeast with an emphasis on affordability. Joseph LaRusso, Acadia’s Manager of the Clean Grid Program, posed a foundational question: “Does Massachusetts need to expand its natural gas infrastructure?”

In an interview, LaRusso cited data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) showing that natural gas consumption by residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the state declined from 2019 to 2024. Likewise, Federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, which includes gas used for electricity generation, also shows an overall decline for Massachusetts over the same period despite a slight increase in gas use by power plants.

Critically, LaRusso pointed out that between 2019 and 2024, other pipeline expansion projects in the region have already added 362 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of capacity. The RARE project will add another approximately 75 MMcf/d. However, over the same period, residential natural gas prices have continued to rise despite the capacity increase. According to the EIA, since 2019, Massachusetts natural gas prices have risen from $14.72 to $21.80 (per thousand cubic feet) in 2024.

LaRusso attributed sustained high natural gas prices to the United States becoming the world’s leading exporter of LNG, thus tying domestic prices to the global market. The EIA reported that the United States exported 11.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of liquefied natural gas from eight export facilities in 2024, remaining the world’s leading LNG exporter. In a follow-up email, LaRusso concluded, “New England won’t be able to ‘pipeline’ its way to lower natural gas prices.”

LaRusso also raised a practical concern about demand: even if more gas is made available, new natural gas-fired power plants face a backlog in turbine deliveries of five to seven years, suggesting it will be years after pipeline expansions are completed before generators could fully utilize the added capacity and reap any cost reductions.

To read the full article from Norfolk & Wrentham, click here.