Despite falling natural gas prices over the past year, the operator of New England’s power grid says the region still needs more gas pipelines. In a call with reporters Tuesday, Gordon Van Welie, the President of ISO New England, said the region continues to see price spikes when demand is high on cold winter days.

“The question is always going to be, what’s the weather going to be?” Van Welie says. “If one could arrange weather like we’ve seen this winter, we wouldn’t have a problem and we wouldn’t be highlighting this problem. But of course no one can predict what the weather will be in the long run.”

Van Welie says while renewable energy in New England is likely to expand in coming years, natural gas is needed to make up for the loss of coal and nuclear plants. Several companies have proposed new pipelines, though they have faced strong opposition from some residents.