Key Takeaways
A new study estimates that Project Beacon could save a Massachusetts household with gas heat and grid electricity $76 per winter after estimated project costs.
The proposed expansion would add 300 million cubic feet per day of firm capacity to the Algonquin Gas Transmission system, helping deliver more natural gas when winter demand is highest.
The study estimates that lower gas prices would also reduce electricity costs and displace some oil-fired generation. Under its assumptions, the benefits to Massachusetts ratepayers would significantly exceed the project’s cost while bolstering reliability.
Separately, a Jones Act waiver has enabled a domestic propane shipment to New England, illustrating how maritime deliveries can provide another supply route through existing terminals.
Massachusetts has access to abundant natural gas production in nearby Appalachia, but limited pipeline capacity makes it difficult to deliver more of that gas into New England when demand rises. During periods of cold weather, households and businesses need more gas for heat at the same time power plants need it to generate electricity. When pipeline capacity becomes constrained, gas prices can rise sharply, pushing up electricity prices as well.
A new study by Always On Energy Research for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation examines what an expansion of that capacity could mean for Massachusetts ratepayers. Its subject is Project Beacon, an Enbridge proposal to expand the existing Algonquin Gas Transmission system through pipe replacements, pipeline loops, and added compression. The project would provide 300 million cubic feet per day of additional firm capacity, with service targeted as early as November 2030.
The study estimates that an expansion of Beacon’s size could lower Algonquin Citygate natural gas prices by an average of $1.27 per million British thermal units during the winter. The greatest benefit would come on particularly cold days, when existing pipeline capacity is tight, and the price of gas delivered to New England can climb far above prices in producing regions.
Natural gas is a major fuel for Massachusetts electricity generation, and gas-fired plants often influence the wholesale price of power. The study estimates that Beacon’s additional capacity would lower winter wholesale electricity prices by an average of $4.78 per megawatt-hour. Greater gas availability would also reduce the need to run oil-fired generators, cutting winter fuel oil consumption by an estimated 8.4 million gallons, or about 35 percent.
Applied to the seven winters from 2019–20 through 2025–26, the study’s model produces average gas and electricity savings of about $367 million per winter for Massachusetts ratepayers. Savings would be smaller in mild winters and larger when cold weather places the most pressure on the gas system. For a household that heats with natural gas and buys electricity from the grid, the study estimates average gross savings of $95 per winter: $72 on gas and $23 on electricity. After an estimated $19 share of Beacon’s cost, the net benefit would be $76, assuming wholesale savings are passed down to the consumer. The study also estimates net savings of $622 per winter for a typical commercial customer.
Beacon would increase the amount of gas the existing pipeline system can deliver, while maritime shipments offer an additional path to bringing fuel into New England without building additional infrastructure across states. Currently, the Jones Act generally requires cargo moving between U.S. ports to travel on U.S.-built, -owned, and -flagged vessels. Those requirements severely limit the number of ships available to carry domestic fuel to the region: in fact, there are currently no LNG or propane tankers that qualify for domestic delivery to New England under the act.
This matters particularly in the Northeast, where many households heat with oil or propane. EIA estimated that about 39 percent of New England homes used one of those fuels as their main heating source in 2020. In Massachusetts, roughly one-quarter of households used delivered heating fuels in 2024. Under the 2026 Jones Act waiver, a foreign-flagged tanker carried approximately 313,000 barrels of propane from Pennsylvania to Providence, Rhode Island. The Providence terminal can receive propane by vessel, store it, and distribute it by truck. The shipment shows that access to a broader fleet can open a domestic supply route through existing infrastructure, in many cases providing supply more swiftly than under the standard requirements.
Maritime access could also reduce New England’s dependence on approvals for new pipelines through states along their routes. The proposed Constitution Pipeline, for example, would have connected Pennsylvania production to pipeline systems serving the Northeast. New York denied a required water-quality certification in 2016, and the developer shelved the project in 2020 partly because of permitting difficulties. Deliveries to an existing marine terminal would not require construction of that new overland route, though the terminals and vessels remain subject to their own requirements.
New England already has facilities that can receive LNG and return it to gaseous form. The Everett terminal near Boston can send regasified LNG into the Algonquin and Tennessee pipeline systems; the offshore Northeast Gateway can feed Algonquin’s HubLine. During a January 2025 cold snap, New England leaned on oil- and coal-fired plants to offset reduced gas-fired generation. The arrival of additional gas, including from Everett, helped gas plants increase output—illustrating the terminal’s ability to supplement supply when gas is scarce. Allowing U.S. LNG to reach those facilities by ship could give New England another source of gas when inland pipelines are constrained. While these routes still benefit from a bolstered pipeline infrastructure, minimizing restrictions on delivery options allows greater strategic choice as planners consider the most efficient and dependable supply chains. This further mitigates risks related to upstream supply and infrastructure impediments.
