Major northeast gas pipeline canceled

Kinder Morgan Inc. is canceling its controversial $3.3 billion project to build a natural gas pipeline from upstate New York through Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The Northeast Energy Direct project, meant to bring gas to areas with high prices and little infrastructure access, faced strong opposition from environmental groups and local activists.

{mosads}The pipeline also entered into the 2016 presidential campaign, with Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both opposing it in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary in February.

Kinder Morgan’s board decided late Wednesday that it could not find the necessary utility customers to make the pipeline financially viable, the Boston Globe reported.

“There are currently neither sufficient volumes, nor a reasonable expectation of securing them, to proceed with the project as it is currently configured,” the company said, according to the Globe.

The company, with the support of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), hoped to bring gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region to New England to be used in power plants and help the area lower its carbon dioxide emissions.

The cancellation is a huge victory for environmental groups, who had made killing the pipeline a top priority for the region.

“Kinder Morgan is stopping the pipeline because it is both expensive to ratepayers and simply not needed,” George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, told the Globe. “Massachusetts has the capacity to develop its own energy in solar, wind and hydro. In the process, we can create new industries and jobs here, rather than exporting our dollars and jobs to fossil fuel states.”