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9/16/2025
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Ujifusa urges Portsmouth Town Council to support moratorium on new gas hookups
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STATE HOUSE – Sen. Linda L. Ujifusa is urging the Portsmouth Town Council and state regulators to support a moratorium on new gas hookups on Aquidneck Island to enable the closure of the temporary Old Mill Lane LNG storage facility, lower consumer costs and move toward more reliable and sustainable renewable energy sources.
In a memorandum sent today to both the Town Council and the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board, Senator Ujifusa (D-Dist.11, Portsmouth, Bristol) pointed to the many regulatory requirements that were bypassed to allow the Old Mill Land facility to return to use in January 2019 when the island was thrust into a dayslong gas outage caused by system malfunctions and high demand during a period of extremely low temperatures.
That facility, located in a residential neighborhood, was not intended for permanent use, and the island needs to decrease demand for natural gas, for the sake of ending its use as well as for the purposes of moving toward more sustainable and economical heating sources, Senator Ujifusa said.
Senator Ujifusa was a member of the Portsmouth Town Council in 2020 when the council voted unanimously to support a moratorium on new gas hookups, although no ban was imposed by regulators.
A copy of the memorandum is attached.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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