The City Council on Monday is scheduled to consider a resolution that would authorize Norwich Public Utilities to pursue increased natural gas capacity from the Algonquin Gas Pipeline, which supplies the Northeast, under an upcoming expansion planned by the pipeline’s owner and operator. In September, Enbridge, which owns and operates the Algonquin line along with several others around the country, announced that it will be moving forward with two gas expansion projects, one of which, called the Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement (RARE) project, also known as the AGT Enhancement project. It would increase supply for gas distributors in the Northeast, if they agree to help finance the project. The RARE project is expected to finish in 2029.
The cost of opting into the Algonquin expansion project, purchasing the additional capacity, will eventually be rolled into gas customers’ rates in the future, NPU officials say. Those rates are partly calculated based on what NPU pays for the gas it receives from the Algonquin pipeline, and how much is used. Gas customer rates are currently locked in until November 2026.
Norwich Public Utilities looks to join major gas line expansion project Author photo
