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Eversource & Avangrid Defeat Competitor’s Antitrust Appeal 

By  |  September 10, 2020

Eversource Energy and Avangrid didn’t violate antitrust law by buying and refusing to release excess natural gas transmission capacity, the First Circuit ruled in affirming dismissal of a competitor’s lawsuit. 

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    PNE Energy Supply sued the energy companies after a report alleged the firms were able to increase New England electricity prices by 20% by reducing the capacity of the Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline. The report, published by the Environmental Defense Fund, claimed the practice cost consumers US$3.6 billion in surcharges between 2013 and 2016.

    A team of economists from Environmental Defense Fund and three top universities showed the misalignment between the gas and electric markets has become a costly problem. In a new analysis released today, they say that families and businesses in New England, where the national issue is most acute, shelled out an estimated US$3.6 billion in artificially inflated bills over just three years due to the disconnect, the report read.

    In 2019, a federal judge in Boston dismissed a proposed antitrust class action accusing Eversource Energy and Avangrid, two of New England’s largest energy providers, of manipulating pipeline capacity to inflate prices of natural gas and electricity. This was later appealed. 

    Full Content: Bloomberg

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