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Eversource threatens legal action over 'false narratives' of blocking pipeline

Eversource Energy is fighting back against claims that the utility intentionally contributed to New England natural gas pipeline constraints.

In a report issued earlier this year, the Environmental Defense Fund, in collaboration with academics, alleged that Eversource and Avangrid Inc. deliberately blocked other companies from using gas transportation capacity, which drove up gas and electricity prices during peak periods in New England and caused energy consumers to pay $3.6 billion more for electricity over a three-year period.

Massachusetts launched an inquiry based on the Environmental Defense Fund assertions, and the claims drew the attention of Connecticut as well.

Eversource, in a Dec. 11 cease and desist letter to Environmental Defense Fund leadership, attacked the group's claims. The company said it would take legal action.

"We are outraged by the reckless claims that [Environmental Defense Fund] continues to perpetuate and are shocked at how aggressively they continue to look for opportunities to spread these incredibly false narratives," Bill Akley, Eversource's president of gas operations, said in a statement.

"As a local gas company, we are required to make sure our customers have enough gas for heating their homes, particularly on cold New England nights," Akley said. "We stand confidently by our supply planning and management strategies and our employees who make those decisions in the best interest of our gas customers."

Eversource must pass along its fuel costs to customers and therefore does not profit from higher prices, the company said in its letter.

The Environmental Defense Fund study examined three years of public data on Enbridge Inc.'s Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC pipeline, concluding that on a regular basis Eversource and Avangrid ordered large, day-long deliveries but then reduced the orders later in the day. The environmental group said the timing of the scheduling made it impossible for anyone else to make use of the pipeline capacity once it was freed up, limiting the amount of gas available to the wholesale market.

The Environmental Defense Fund said it is reviewing the Eversource letter. "We have received the Eversource letter of Dec. 11 and referred it to counsel for review," group spokesman Jon Coifman said. "We stand by the analysis and reject this obvious attempt to intimidate and chill legitimate public inquiry."