Five of New England's governors met in Hartford on Thursday to speak about energy issues facing the region. At the top of the agenda was the price of electricity.
In many ways, politicians say it's a capacity issue. Since 2000, New England has seen its natural gas use climb by nearly 30 percent.
As coal-fired power plants shut down, more utilities find themselves turning to natural gas to drive their turbines and generate electricity. All that's pushed gas pipelines to their limit, driving up prices and leaving New England with the highest utility prices in the country.
Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy said the marketplace hasn't sorted out this issue, and as they charge more, he said he's not sure they will.
"That's the situation we find ourselves in," Malloy said. "What I think we're trying to do is collectively figure out, how do we rectify that situation. Where the market may not be driving a solution because it's walking away with an extra $7.5 billion."
Malloy said New England spent about $2.5 billion more than surrounding regions this past winter and $5 billion in the winter prior.
"We are outliers. It's that simple," said Maine Governor Paul LePage, a Republican. "If you look at the 12 highest energy states in the country, all New England states are part of the 12. So, we are working in those areas where we have common ground, and can find solutions, we're going to work together.
One solution, the governors said, is more investment in new gas pipelines. Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said he wants that expansion to happen along existing rights of way -- not in "virgin" territory. But he said the process is still a long one.
"Each state has its own way of defining cost-benefit," Baker said. "That factors, in some respects, into how you actually figure out what is cost-beneficial to everybody; deals with the carbon footprint issue that Governor LePage raised; and can be done collaboratively."
