HARTFORD — The governors of five New England states will gather in Hartford on Thursday to discuss the region’s energy infrastructure situation, which they say has yielded high electricity prices in recent years.
The energy summit comes 11/2 years after all six governors signed a joint statement supporting ways to bring large amounts of additional natural gas and electricity into New England through new pipelines and transmission wires. The effort lost steam when the Massachusetts legislature chose to not forward a bill enabling the commonwealth to participate.
The closed-door meeting of governors Thursday is designed to advance their original December 2013 agreement.
In a statement, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said governors at the meeting will “will renew and strengthen our commitment to working together to put solutions to this challenge in place.”
“The problem is greater than any one state can solve alone, and the people of all six states can share in the benefits of cost-effective solutions we can implement together,” he said. “Our goal is to build on the prosperity and promise of New England by ensuring the long-term availability of cleaner, affordable, and reliable power.”
The governors’ push to bring more natural gas and electricity into the region has been criticized by energy and environmental policy groups that say the plan largely overlooks benefits that energy efficiency, demand response, and liquefied natural gas could offer to stabilize energy prices.
Other than Malloy, the meeting will include Gov. Paul R. LePage of Maine, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo of Rhode Island and Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont.
New Hampshire’s Gov. Maggie Hassan will be absent from the meeting. She will be attending a memorial service for Rockingham County Sheriff Michael Downing, who died last week.
Policy staff from New Hampshire’s energy and public utilities offices will attend the Hartford meeting. In a statement, Hassan spokesman William Hinkle said New Hampshire will support projects that reduce energy costs and provide “real benefits to New Hampshire’s ratepayers.”
“Governor Hassan will continue to work to protect the interests of New Hampshire and ensure that our regional partners understand that Granite Staters will have a voice on proposed projects that wish to be sited in our state,” Hinkle said.
