‘Natural gas is not in the future’: Could a ban on new gas hookups come to Aquidneck Island?

• Rhode Island Energy argues that the LNG facility in Portsmouth is essential to support Aquidneck Island’s gas system.
• A proposed moratorium on new gas hookups on Aquidneck Island is being considered to reduce reliance on the LNG facility.
• Supporters of the moratorium cite climate and public health concerns, while Rhode Island Energy opposes it due to potential cost increases and emissions from alternative fuels.

NEWPORT – When state regulators extended the life of a controversial liquefied natural gas facility in Portsmouth last year, they did so with less than whole-hearted support.

The members of the Energy Facility Siting Board accepted Rhode Island Energy’s argument that the LNG storage and vaporization plant on Old Mill Lane in Portsmouth is necessary, at least for the foreseeable future, to back up Aquidneck Island’s natural gas system, which may be vulnerable to disruptions because it’s located at an endpoint of the region’s network of supply pipelines.

But the board members also required the state’s largest utility to take steps to reduce demand for gas on the island and, therefore, the need to keep stores of LNG in Portsmouth.

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the siting board heard from residents on the most far-reaching of the potential actions to stem demand: a moratorium on new connections to the island’s gas system that would be the first action of its kind in Rhode Island to curtail use of the fossil fuel.

The idea – which is not part of any formal proposal with state utilities regulators at the moment – went over pretty well with the couple of dozen attendees at the hearing in Newport. While one of the seven people who spoke didn’t address the issue, all six others voiced strong support for a moratorium, citing climate and public health concerns.

“Natural gas is not in the future of a clean, healthy Rhode Island,” said Newport resident Bart Lloyd.

Idea for moratorium arose from 2019 gas outage

The possibility of a ban on new hookups was first raised in the wake of a natural gas outage on the island in 2019 that resulted from an extraordinary string of mishaps and left thousands of people without heat on one of the coldest days of winter.

The utility’s immediate answer to the event was to set up a temporary facility on Old Mill Lane that could vaporize LNG brought in by tanker trucks and pump the resulting gas into the island’s system when the temperature drops and demand climbs.

But when the company submitted an application to invest more in the plant and keep it in service longer, it led to bigger questions about climate change and whether further investments in fossil fuel infrastructure are aligned with the state’s policy goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2021, the environmental groups Conservation Law Foundation and the Acadia Center argued a ban was justified after passage of the Act on Climate, the state law that requires Rhode Island to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Rhode Island Energy has steadfastly opposed a moratorium, citing a variety of reasons, including the possibility that consumers would opt for heating oil or propane, which, the company argues, would raise costs and produce more emissions.

There are issues at stake beyond climate policy. People who live in the residential neighborhood around the vaporization facility have complained about bright lights, noise and truck traffic.

And then there are fears about the island’s reliance on a single pipeline to deliver gas across the Sakonnet River from Massachusetts, and whether another service interruption could happen.

Climate advocates say state must phase out use of natural gas

For these and other reasons, environmental groups and state policymakers have called on utilities regulators to explore a moratorium on gas hookups and look at programs to move customers onto alternatives, primarily high-efficiency electric heat pumps.

The Conservation Law Foundation maintains its position that a ban on new connections only makes sense because the island can’t get enough gas delivered by pipeline to meet peak needs. If there are more hookups, the gap will only grow and so will reliance on the Old Mill Lane facility.

“… given the dire emergency and public safety risks of the January 2019 gas outage, as well as ongoing risks from methane leakage, it is clear that limiting gas growth and reducing gas demand down to levels supported by the existing system would improve public safety,” staff attorney James Crowley wrote to the siting board.

The office of Attorney General Peter Neronha also backs a moratorium, saying in a filing with the board that the gas system on the island is already strained and that a ban would advance the goals of the Act on Climate.

Advocates with Green Energy Consumers Alliance and Climate Action Rhode Island echoed those points at the hearing in Newport. Christian Roselund, a volunteer with the latter group, said that building all-electric new construction now will be cheaper than trying to retrofit structures in the future.

“We are committed to decarbonize the state under the Act on Climate,” he said. “By the time we get to the 2040 or 2050 targets, there is no room for gas or any other fossil fuel usage. So the question is not will we be using fossil fuels, it’s when do we get off fossil fuels?”

Liz Drayton, who lives near the Old Mill Lane facility, focused on local issues in her comments. She said that construction on the plant has disrupted what is otherwise a largely rural area.

“We don’t want to see our farming neighborhood turned into an industrial site,” she said.

Can the siting board actually call for a moratorium?

The hearings on Aquidneck Island are separate from another docket under review by the state Public Utilities Commission that’s looking at the future of natural gas across Rhode Island as a whole.

That docket was opened in response to passage of the Act on Climate. The commission’s recommendations, which have yet to be released, will inform a key piece of a climate action strategy due by the end of the year that’s expected to lay out specific actions the state must take to comply with the act’s emissions reduction mandates.

Whether the siting board has the authority to enact a moratorium on Aquidneck Island is disputed.

The state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers says the authority for such a move rests with the General Assembly, or maybe with the Public Utilities Commission.

After the hearing, siting board Chairman Ronald Gerwatowski said that if a formal proposal for a moratorium were to move ahead, the board would seek opinions on the issue.

“It’s a legal question we still have to face,” he said.

Gerwatowski acknowledged the sparse crowd at the hearing and said the siting board would reach out to elected officials on the island to hear their thoughts on a moratorium if more people don’t turn out for a second hearing scheduled for Aug. 27 at Portsmouth Middle School.

Brian Schuster, head of external affairs for Rhode Island Energy, said the company wants to hear more from the business community, too.

“For us, all actions are on the table,” he said. “Any time you start to limit choice you start to narrow folks into decisions that might have unintended consequences.”