In letter to Liberty Utilities, Goodlander seeks answers for Lakes Region moratorium

Rep. Maggie Goodlander requested in a letter on June 11 that Liberty Utilities provide more transparency about its decision not to serve new natural gas customers in the Lakes Region.

Earlier this year, residents and municipal officials were made aware that Liberty could not add new clients due to a lack of capacity. The utility had placed a moratorium on services in the region, which home buyers said was not adequately communicated to them.

“Tens of thousands of hardworking Granite Staters and New Hampshire small businesses rely on Liberty Utilities to fulfill its obligation to provide safe, adequate and affordable natural gas service,” Goodlander said in a statement. “Why on Earth is this foreign-owned, for-profit monopoly suddenly jacking up costs for New Hampshire by denying gas services to our cities, towns, families, businesses, and developers?”

The representative said she met with local government officials, residents, developers, clean energy stakeholders and a representative from Liberty on April 7, in Franklin. She heard how the moratorium has halted Franklin’s downtown development and Laconia’s housing project.

“Businesses, concerned citizens, and local leaders deserve to get answers and solutions from Liberty — I won’t quit until we get both,” she said.

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