A new study says Eversource and Avangrid artificially inflated electricity prices costing New England consumers $3.6 billion over three years by scheduling deliveries on the Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline, then not flowing the gas.

The study, which Eversource called “completely fabricated” by pipeline opponents, noted the severe, simultaneous spikes in the region’s wholesale natural gas and electricity markets.

“While frequently attributed to limited pipeline capacity serving the region, we demonstrate that such price spikes have been exacerbated by some gas distribution firms scheduling deliveries without actually flowing gas,” the study said.

By doing so, other firms are blocked from utilizing pipeline capacity. These “unusual scheduling practices” artificially limit gas supply to the region and drives up gas and electricity prices, the study said.

“We find clear patterns of withholding at a subset of delivery nodes operated by Avangrid and Eversource …, the only two firms operating on the pipeline with substantial assets and operations in both the gas distribution market and the electricity generation market,” the study said.

Click below to read the full story by Nancy West on InDepthNH.org