Spectra Letter in the Boston Globe

A Spectra exec, Bill Yardley, published a letter in today's Boston Globe. The letter is part of Spectra's PR campaign to sell Access Northeast (ANE). The article claims that ANE will lower energy costs, which we know not to be true.

If you subscribe to the Globe, please leave a comment on the article. If not, you can write a letter to the editor.

How to submit a letter to the editor:

Letters should be written exclusively to the Globe and include name, address, and daytime number. They should be 200 words or fewer; all are subject to editing.

Send to:

E-mail:letter@globe.com

Fax: 617-929-2098

Regular mail: Letters to the Editor, The Boston Globe, PO Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819

---

Full letter below:

"THERE HAS been spirited debate around energy goals in the Commonwealth, as highlighted by your July 5 editorial “Don’t let side issues derail crucial energy bill.” That’s good, since we confront very real challenges.

Here’s a tough fact: Boston-area consumers paid 50 percent more than the US average price for electricity during the first four months of 2016. This gross inequity hurts New Englanders in many ways.

Our region is woefully constrained by lagging infrastructure. We desperately need to expand supplies of clean, affordable natural gas to New England homes and businesses. The good news is that our Access Northeast project could save consumers more than $2 billion over the course of a single cold winter. Simply put, consumer savings will far outweigh costs. At the center of the debate is a funding method identical to how infrastructure projects, including renewables, get built all over the country, and in places where supplies are not constrained and consumers pay less.

To listen to those opposed to natural gas would be to leave consumers saddled with high energy bills, employers struggling to compete with neighboring regions, and New England pumping out more carbon dioxide because we have to rely on dirtier fuels to keep the lights on.

Bill Yardley

President, US transmission

Spectra Energy

Houston"