A relatively small project aiming to increase gas pipeline capacity into New England is raising larger underlying questions about how the region will balance gas reliability and affordability with longer-term efforts to transition away from natural gas.

Two and a half years after taking the helm at the Massachusetts DPU, Chair Jamie Van Nostrand is leaving after leading it through a series of major changes in its approach to natural gas regulation.

Projected energy efficiency investments in New England over the next three years will generate an estimated $19.3 billion in lifetime benefits, returning $2.93 for every dollar spent, according to new analysis by the Acadia Center.

Representatives of major gas pipeline companies said they are optimistic that political shifts at the federal and state levels will create opportunities for gas infrastructure expansion in New England.

Climate and consumer advocates called on Massachusetts lawmakers to preserve the state’s energy efficiency programs as legislators work to develop an energy affordability bill in response to high gas and electricity costs over the past winter.

Energy experts and officials stressed the importance of proactive transmission planning, interconnection reform and increased demand-side flexibility at Raab Associates’ New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable.

A developer in Maine is evaluating whether pumped storage – one of the oldest generation technologies still used on the New England grid – could play an increased role in the grid of the future.

A new study looking at the business case for comparable behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter battery storage systems in Massachusetts found that FTM storage “significantly outperformed” the BTM systems, despite significant programs and incentives supporting BTM storage in the state.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities directed the state’s gas distribution companies to revise their line extension policies and require new customers to cover the cost of new hookups, with limited exceptions.