Clarence Fanto in the Berkshire Eagle reports that Massachusetts approved long-term preliminary contracts for Berkshire Gas, National Grid, and Columbia Gas to buy supplies from the proposed Northeast Energy Direct project on Aug. 31. Kinder Morgan wants to put a natural gas pipeline from Wright, N.Y., west of Schenectady, through Rennselear County into Berkshire County on its ways to outside of Boston. The three suppliers signed 20-year agreements to purchase natural gas from the $3.3 billion, 30-inch natural gas pipeline project, if approved by federal regulators. But the preliminary contracts required state approval because they exceed one-year limits. Originally, the proposal was for a $5 billion, 36-inch pipeline. Berkshire Gas claims there is a shortage, and has declined to accept new customers in Franklin and Hampshire counties until the pipeline project is approved. Kinder Morgan wants approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by October 2016 to build the pipeline for use in November 2018. Read the full story in the Berkshire Eagle.