The cost and volatility of crude oil has prompted many Mainers to switch to natural gas heat.Advocates of expanding natural gas are pointing to the results of a new study as proof that New England needs a bigger natural gas supply to meet its current demand.Click here to watch the reportMany Mainers are eagerly awaiting the say when natural gas services becomes available at their homes so they can leave before  the days of dealing with the ups and downs of home heating oil. There is also widespread acknowledgement that curbing energy costs is one way to attract and keep businesses in Maine.The preliminary results of a new study in Massachusetts indicated that the Commonwealth needs a bigger natural gas supply to meet current demand. Advocates for bringing new pipelines into New England believe the Massachusetts study illustrates a region-wide need.“The long-term plan, I think,  in New England is: maintain a solid grid, use gas as the backbone but no more than half of the power generation, and bring in renewables and demand response…energy efficiency,” Tony Buxton, Coalition to Lower Energy Costs, said.Buxton also works for a company that has proposed a new pipeline project. He has a vested interest in seeing natural gas expanded in Maine, but said he’s not the only dog in this fight.“We all are dogs in this fight,” Buxton said. “We’re paying 100 percent more for electricity today than we should be. The money isn’t benefiting anybody. It’s not being spent on renewables. It’s not being spent on efficiency, and there are lots of people who can’t afford this.”Those against additional pipelines are quick to point out that the focus on the Massachusetts study is not as wide as some would think.“Since all New England electric ratepayers are being asked to pay for a new gas pipeline and take on all the risk associated with that unprecedented request, they deserve a full, fair and comprehensive assessment of all the tools available to meet the region’s energy needs. No study to date, including these one, comes close to meeting that standard,” Jamie Howland from the environmental group Acadia Center wrote to WMTW News 8.The natural gas that Buxton and others are pushing to pipe into Maine comes from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio and is taken from the ground through a controversial practice known as hydraulic fracturing or hydofracking.The final Massachusetts report was slated for release on Tuesday but has been delayed.