Two reasons New England will suffer brutal winter energy prices and even blackouts

A fuel supply crisis in New England has sent consumer utility bills soaring and threatens blackouts this winter — even as the United States exports record volumes of fuel to customers overseas.

New England’s woes are attributable to two factors: its lack of pipeline infrastructure, which prevents it from receiving supplies from other parts of the U.S., and a century-old law known as the Jones Act that limits the delivery of fuel from the rest of the country by ship.

As a result, U.S. fuel continues to be exported at...