A long-awaited study commissioned by Deval Patrick’s administration to examine Massachusetts’s energy needs for the next several decades has been delayed.
The study was originally scheduled to be released Tuesday. Mary-Leah Assad, a spokeswoman for Patrick’s administration, said the state hoped to release the report next week.
The study, called the Massachusetts Low-Demand Analysis, was commissioned by the state’s Department of Energy Resources after environmental groups said an existing report didn’t give enough weight to alternative energy sources, like wind and solar power. Synapse Energy, the Cambridge-based energy consultancy conducting the study, has said their report would not include policy proposals.
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Since October, three stakeholder meetings have been held, and some technical models have been released. Although the final report hasn’t been released, environmental groups and pro-pipeline advocates are already critiquing its methods and arguing over its conclusions. Dennis Eklof, an anti-pipeline activist and energy economist, called arguments about its conclusions “premature” because of what he said are errors in models it released last week.
“It assumes that we’re going to have very, very low cost gas from the Marcellus formation for decades to come,” said Eklof, referring to a large underground natural gas deposit that stretches from Pennsylvania to upstate New York. “I have a number of other concerns with the study as well.”
Synapse deferred requests for comment to Assad, the administration spokeswoman. In a statement, she emphasized that the models released so far were “preliminary.”
Massachusetts’s electricity sector has become increasingly dependent on natural gas-driven power plants in recent years. But the region’s growing reliance on natural gas has strained supplies, and limited natural gas pipeline capacity has led to wintertime price spikes. Environmental groups have generally opposed the creation of a new pipeline, saying it would increase greenhouse gas emissions and steer the state away from green energy.
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Jack Newsham can be reached at jack.newsham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheNewsHam.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, Dennis Eklof’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.