BURRILLVILLE, R.I. — One day, Yaz disappeared. His owner heard banging from a nearby excavator and then gunshots. When he went searching, he found the Merino sheep shivering against the barn wall.

Now, the sheep’s owner, Robert Cote, worries about the stress a proposed pipeline expansion moving through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) process could place on 9-year-old Yaz and the other sheep, dairy goats, and chickens that graze his 22-acre property.

The property sits near the Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline, a 1,131-mile system that carries natural gas from New Jersey to Massachusetts. A portion of the pipeline is under federal review for upgrades and is slated for construction in 2028.

As Cote and other Rhode Island landowners push back against the project known as RARE — short for Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement — Canadian energy company Enbridge unveiled plans in May for another pipeline expansion: Project Beacon.

The expansion plans come as the federal government pushes for increased oil and gas production and as New England governors have support for pipeline projects amid soaring energy costs.

“I think there’s a recognition that whether we like it or not, gas is still dominant to keeping the lights on,” Ron Gerwatowski, chair of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, recently told Politico. “I think it’s caused people to start thinking about the fact natural gas will be around longer than we want, and we have to recognize that and start thinking about things.”

Still, Gerwatowski told Politico: “The idea that we’re going to build a pipeline in New England, that one’s tough,” he said, adding, “but there may be other ways you can enhance the system.”

Gov. Dan McKee’s office didn’t respond to ecoRI’s request for comment.

Many environmentalists warn that pipeline expansions could drive up utility bills and undermine climate goals.

“Expansion of gas infrastructure isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s a cost-of-living issue. Our continued reliance on methane gas will worsen climate impacts while keeping our communities tied to a volatile and increasingly expensive energy system,” Avery Robertson, assistant director and communications for Climate Action Rhode Island, wrote in a statement to ecoRI News.

RARE 

When Enbridge representatives visited Cote’s home, he asked what steps they would take to mitigate noise. He said he was told his animals could be moved elsewhere during construction.

In that moment, he said, he had to walk away.

“Those are my animals,” he told ecoRI News. “You have no idea how I feel about my animals.”

The Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement project remains in the early stages of the FERC review process.

The proposal is the first step toward easing the pipeline constraints that have plagued New England’s energy system, according to Enbridge.

The company plans to install 3 miles of a 36-inch-diameter pipeline loop in parallel with an existing 24-inch-diameter pipeline beginning at the Burrillville compressor station.

Cotes told FERC that he worries not only about the impact construction could have on his animals, but also the effect the new pipeline and temporary construction workspace could have on seasonal wetlands and a historic cemetery near his home.

He urged representatives to consider alternative routes that would avoid his property and neighboring areas, and to conduct thorough reviews of the wetlands, cemetery, and livestock.

Cotes said his concerns extend beyond Burrillville.

He sympathizes with residents in Cumberland, where Enbridge plans to replace 8.25 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline running through four Massachusetts towns and into Cumberland with a new 36-inch-diameter line.

Cumberland resident Chris Ratcliffe owns 4.7 acres surrounding Sylvie’s Brook, which flows into the Pawtucket Water Supply watershed, and told FERC the project’s environmental impacts would be “long-lasting and, in some cases, irreversible.”

He added that construction would disturb sensitive habitat and harm the ecosystem that depends on the watershed. He also warned that removing trees and vegetation along the route would strip away a natural buffer that shields his property and neighboring homes from roadway noise.

The loss of that vegetative barrier, according to Ratcliffe, would alter the character of the area and diminish residents’ quality of life.

Another resident told The Local Insider that he was concerned about the potential loss of white pine trees on his property, which he said are the largest of their species.

Like Cotes, several residents denied Enbridge access to survey their property, but they said the company returned anyway.

The project also includes plans to add 2.2 miles of 12-inch-diameter pipeline alongside an existing line that crosses the Sakonnet River, as well as software upgrades at a compressor station in Connecticut.

The work would center on existing infrastructure and would not require the construction of new compressor stations, according to Enbridge.

Project Beacon 

Enbridge received additional market interest in incremental natural gas pipeline capacity after launching RARE, according to Melissa Sherburne, a company spokesperson.

The proposal would increase the amount of gas flowing into the Northeast and could boost capacity to  roughly four times that under the enhancement project, The Boston Globe reported.

Natural gas demand in New England continues to grow, and additional pipeline capacity will be required to maintain a reliable and affordable energy supply, Enbridge representatives wrote in the company’s open season notice for firm service.

“Project Beacon seeks to provide relief by improving access to natural gas supplies located only a few hundred miles away. Depending on participation, it is expected to generate up to $2 billion per year in savings, in addition to the direct savings experienced by customers of participating gas utilities,” Sherburne wrote in an email to ecoRI News.

Details of the project are vague, but the company plans to replace existing pipes with larger diameter pipes in some areas while adding parallel pipelines in others. The proposal would also expand compressor stations and could be operational by 2030.

The company launched an “open season,” from May 18 to July 1, to gauge interest from gas utilities and power plants that might be willing to buy additional gas capacity. Enbridge plans to finalize the project design and bring it to FERC once bids are secured.

Dan Dolan, the president of the New England Power Generators Association, told the CommonWealth Beacon that the companies he represents would be interested in the expansion. But how it’s paid off would be a challenge, as pipeline companies often want 20- to 30-year contracts secured from utilities or power plants to buy the natural gas.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a plan allowing Eversource, one of New England’s largest gas utilities, to buy additional gas from Enbridge through the enhancement project.

Rhode Island Energy also signed an agreement in 2025 to purchase gas through the project.

The company representatives wrote in a news release that the enhancement project would reduce reliance on imported liquefied natural gas by increasing access to domestic gas supplies. They added that it plans to contract for about 30% of the project’s capacity.

Project Beacon’s proposal comes almost three years after Enbridge announced Project Maple, a similar expansion plan. It called for replacing the existing pipeline with a larger-diameter pipe, boosting compression, and installing new lines next to existing ones in 2023.

Climate justice organizations in Rhode Island rallied against Project Maple in 2024 after toxic drilling fluid spilled into a Portsmouth wetland during construction on the project’s initial phase.

Advocates have urged McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to deny any additional permits tied to the expansion.