LOWELL — Kinder Morgan announced Wednesday that all work and spending on the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline is being suspended because of a lack of interest from gas buyers in the region, meaning the proposal is dead for the foreseeable future.

And as opponents of the proposed pipeline that would have run from Wright, N.Y., to Dracut celebrated the news, a few of them also chimed in to say, “I told you so.”

“In its decision to suspend further work on the NED pipeline, Kinder Morgan recognized what has been clear for some time, that the project was too big and too costly for Massachusetts ratepayers,” said Attorney General Maura Healey.

Healey’s office released a report last year that said Massachusetts could meet its energy needs without new natural-gas pipelines. Kinder Morgan called the report “seriously flawed” when it was released.

The company’s announcement on Wednesday came just hours after it also announced it had fallen short of analysts’ revenue and shareholder dividend goals.

“There are currently neither sufficient volumes, nor a reasonable expectation of securing them, to proceed with the project as it is currently configured,” the company said in a statement.

The company said, given the market conditions, continuing to develop the pipeline is an unacceptable use of its shareholder funds.

“Innovations in production have resulted in a low-price environment that, while good for consumers, has made it difficult for producers to make new longterm commitments,” the company said.

In advocating for the project, Kinder Morgan had pointed to New England’s high energy prices as evidence that there was a massive demand for more natural gas in the region. But the company was never able to secure contracts for more than 50 percent of the pipeline’s proposed 1.3 billion cubic feet per day capacity.

The $3.3 billion project has been the target of fierce opposition from landowners, environmentalists, and politicians.

But in the end, it was the company’s financial situation that determined the pipeline’s fate.

On Wednesday, Kinder Morgan announced its Quarter 1 earnings. Its revenue of $3.2 billion was between $400 million and $550 million short of estimates by analysts like Zack’s and Seeking Alpha. Earlier this month, the company also halted work on its other major project, the Palmetto pipeline in Georgia.

“We are ecstatic, because the peoples’ voices have been heard,” said Carolyn Zuk, of Dracut, leader of the Dracut Pipeline Awareness Group, which opposed the pipeline.

Zuk noted that many landowners who opposed the pipeline crossing their land were told there was nothing that could be done to stop it, and said the project’s suspension restores hope.

She said the company, despite being touted as an industry leader, repeatedly submitted proposals with incorrect or insufficient information.

“They certainly did not present a clear case for domestic need,” Zuk said.

Carolyn Sellars, of Townsend, rallied like-minded neighbors to the cause as she battled the pipeline ever since it was first proposed.

“This is great news for our region and our planet,” Sellars said. “It shows that even though we were out-moneyed and outmanned, the power of the people was able to shine some light on a process that seemed to be set up to help the pipeline companies rather than the people.”

Beverly Woods, executive director of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments, a regional planning agency, said NMCOG’s board voted to oppose the project after Healey released her report last year.

“The fact that Kinder Morgan was unable to line up the contract commitments needed to make the project viable financially further affirms that the project is truly not needed,” Woods said.

State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, commended landowners and activists who opposed the project and said he was “very pleased” by the news.

Eldridge, along with others, said there is continued work to do, though, since there are other pipeline proposals still in the works elsewhere in Massachusetts.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey also applauded the decision and said he opposed the pipeline “because of concerns that it could have led to the export of American natural gas to foreign countries, the impact it would have had on local communities in Massachusetts, and its potential to worsen climate change.”

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, also said she was pleased because there were too many unanswered questioned about the pipeline that had been posed by New Hampshire residents.

Cathy Kristofferson, of Ashby, who is a member of Stop Northeast Energy Direct, said she was proud to have joined with her neighbors from Massachusetts and New Hampshire to stop the proposal.

“The disbelief is starting to wear off,” said an ecstatic Katy Eiseman, who founded Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network and the Pipeline Awareness Network for the North East.

“You never know what the company is going to do next to try to build a different project here, but it looks as though what we’ve been saying all along has been borne out — that it’s not an economically viable project,” Eiseman said. “They couldn’t line up the customers.”

Over the past year, Kinder Morgan and its partners in Massachusetts have gone to new and creative lengths to drum up business for the pipeline.

At the urging of companies like National Grid, the state’s Department of Public Utilities approved an unprecedented kind of new contract. It allowed electric transmission companies to sign 20-year deals with pipeline companies for capacity on the pipeline. The electric companies would not use the natural gas themselves, but rather would sell it back to power generators. If they couldn’t turn a profit, the companies would be allowed to pass the losses onto ratepayers through a tariff.

In the end, even workarounds like that could not create the demand necessary.

Eiseman’s organization was fighting in court against several of the deals Kinder Morgan had signed with utilities like National Grid. Kinder Morgan cited uncertainty about those kind of deals in announcing the suspension.

The company said the lack of established regulatory procedures for signing deals with electricity distribution companies like National Grid was a factor that prevented the company from getting commitments from as many companies as they expected.

Eiseman also said pipeline opponents should remain vigilant.

“Certainly people should keep watching Kinder Morgan,” Eiseman said. “Don’t take your eye off them, because they could come back with a smaller or reconfigured project.”

Eldridge and Healey both said that going forward it remains important to continue developing cleaner sources of energy to drive down New England energy costs.

“I hope this announcement helps refocus and secure our energy future where it needs to be, with investments in clean and cost-effective energy resources,” Healey said.

Even a spokesman for Gov. Charlie Baker, who had not opposed the pipeline, said the suspension “highlights the pressing need to secure cost-effective hydropower and other renewable-energy resources to meet the growing demand for affordable energy in Massachusetts and New England.”

Sentinel & Enterprise Staff Writer Joseph Atmonavage, Nashoba Valley Voice Staff Writer Anne O’Connor and the Associated Press contributed to this report.