Summit Natural Gas pulls out of planned $90M midcoast expansion
File photo / Tim Greenway
"This grant represents an incredible opportunity for Maine to be a leader in the development of a new renewable energy source," said Kurt Adams, president and CEO of Summit Utilities Inc.
Summit Natural Gas of Maine, which just a month ago announced a $90 million plan to pipe gas heating fuel into Knox and Waldo counties, on Tuesday pulled the plug on the project.
The Yarmouth-based company cited opposition from some community leaders and environmental advocates in deciding to halt its proposed service expansion along a 30-mile corridor from Belfast to Thomaston.
“While there is strong interest in our service among residential and commercial customers and among many community leaders, it has also become clear that a consensus about the region’s energy future does not currently exist among leaders across all area communities,” Kurt Adams, CEO of parent Summit Utilities Inc., said in a news release.
“Without regional alignment on the best ways to reduce emissions and promote cleaner energy usage, we will no longer pursue plans to bring natural gas to this part of Maine.”
In recent years, Summit has built out natural gas service through much of Cumberland and Kennebec counties, and had advocated for further expansion along the midcoast as an energy-saving, environmentally friendly alternative to other heating sources.
Initial work on the project, announced Feb. 5, would have cost $90 million and been completed by late 2022. The pipeline then would been extended to Lincolnville and Northport, and by 2026 Summit had anticipated bringing gas service to 6,500 new customers throughout the area.
But environmental groups such as Sierra Club Maine had opposed the idea, saying the new pipeline would carry natural gas obtained by hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” that would be hazardous and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sierra Club mounted a petition that drew 270 signatures in opposition to the plan, and some opponents spoke out against it at a Rockland City Council meeting last week.
“It was clear that midcoast residents were not fooled by Summit’s advertising,” Sierra Club Maine’s chapter director, Sarah Leighton, said in a news release. “This grassroots effort is a true testament to the power of community organizing.”
In announcing the company’s decision to cancel its plan for the midcoast, Adams listed benefits he claims the area won’t receive as a result, including the creation of more than 100 jobs, reduced energy costs and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from oil and other fuels.
In a separate letter to community leaders, he also left open the possibility that Summit might be open to renegotiation.
“If greater alignment develops among midcoast communities on these issues in the future,” he wrote, “we would be willing to reconsider our decision.”
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