Speliotis Expresses Concerns About Kinder Morgan Pipeline

Dear City Council President McGinn and Members of the City Council:

Last evening, Councilor Barry Sinewitz wisely raised the issue at a Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) hearing in regard to ratepayers absorbing the cost for constructing the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline.

This has been a longstanding concern of mine. Ratepayers have traditionally paid for the capital costs borne by the construction and expansion of gas pipelines. Back in June of 2013, I testified before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy expressing my strong opposition to the utilities practice of minimizing their shareholders risk involved in their decisions to expand their capacity.

For this reason, please find enclosed the letter I have co-signed with a growing number of my colleagues to Speaker Robert DeLeo expressing our opposition to continuing this practice for the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

At the conclusion of (Wednesday) evening's hearing, the DPU conceded that they have never denied a utility access to a private property for surveying purposes. However, this process has led to major changes to the route of a pipeline. For example, at a hearing that Senator Fred Berry, Representative John Slattery and I held at the State House, Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline agreed to move the pipeline off every residential property in my district.

Last evening, I stated my opposition to the pipeline being place in the Ipswich River and recommended the pipeline ought to be located alongside the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline that became operational in the early 2000s.

If the cost of this pipeline is borne by the ratepayer and the pipeline remains in the Ipswich River, then this lateral pipeline ought not to be built.

I look forward to working closely with Mayor Ted Bettencourt and each member of the City Council to ensure that the safety of our residents is placed above the profits of a utility.

Sincerely,

Theodore C. Speliotis

State Representative