The Conservation Law Foundation is pressuring Vermont Gas Systems to halt construction of its natural gas pipeline extension in Addison County.
The environmental advocacy group asked state regulators Monday to reconsider the company’s state permit. A lawyer for the foundation says Vermont Gas is obligated to seek approval for any substantial change to the project, and the company’s recently announced $35 million cost increase for the pipeline constitutes a substantial change.
Vermont Gas, a subsidiary of Canadian utility giant Gaz Metro, recently estimated the cost of the 41-mile pipeline at $121 million, about 40 percent more than originally projected when state regulators approved the project last year.
Sandra Levine, a senior attorney for CLF, said the company should not begin building the project until the new costs are considered. She said the company is required under state law to amend its certificate of public good when cost increases significantly change the project.
Steve Wark, spokesman for Vermont Gas, said he does not know how much it would cost to put the project on hold, but delays to construction “only serve to drive the cost of the project up, resulting in further rate increases.”
Wark said the new cost estimates will increase rates for the company’s natural gas customers by 3.8 percent. Under the previous cost estimate, the project did not impact rates, he said.
Nonetheless, the project, even with the rate increases, is beneficial for Vermont, he said. The company estimates that the pipeline will generate $152 million in energy savings for Vermont residents and businesses who switch from oil to natural gas.
Wark said natural gas is cleaner than traditional home heating fuels. Environmentalist say the energy-intensive process of extracting natural gas damages the environment and emits heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Wark said the company was aware of the cost increase in March but wanted to receive its federal and state wetlands permits before presenting the board with a new cost estimate. The company received its final permit in June.
Levine said the cost increase shows how expensive it is to rely on fossil fuel energy.
CLF and other environmental groups are opposing the second phase of the company’s pipeline expansion from Middlebury to the Ticonderoga Paper mill in New York because they say other alternatives to natural gas such as electric heat pumps are cost competitive.
Levine said the board should consider these alternatives when reviewing the new cost estimates.
