By Martyn Roetter
The Massachusetts State Legislature has several bills before it to oblige the Commonwealth’s gas utilities to take action to implement an order issued by the Department of Public Utilities in early December, 2023. This order requires gas utilities to phase out the use of natural gas over a transition period of 25 to 30 years. So far these utilities—the two largest ones being National Grid and Eversource—have made no visible moves to implement this transition. Instead, they have continued to present proposals which they have claimed falsely will achieve the objective of drastically reducing climate-warming emissions while continuing to use gas, but with increasing proportions of allegedly low and even zero-emissions gases, notably green hydrogen and “renewable” natural gas. In Boston and elsewhere they continue to replace the pipes used to distribute this gas, on which investments they derive a healthy guaranteed return (ROI), and which, absent intervention, we will still be paying for 50 years from now, well past the point when supposedly use of gas will have become minimal if not zero. The alternative they should be adopting would be much less expensive repairs adequate for the length of time the pipes will remain in service during the transition. However, these repairs would not be eligible as investments generating an attractive ROI.
Several bills are being considered which may be consolidated into an omnibus bill. Among the key provisions are measures to:
- Prohibit the construction of more pipelines.
- Stop expansion of service into new cities and towns.
- Encourage the growth of utility-scale networked geothermal projects, as an initial example of a new business opportunity for gas utilities.
In addition, coordination of planning between electric and gas utilities will be required since as the use of gas is progressively eliminated the electric grid infrastructure must be expanded and upgraded to meet new demands for electricity from systems such as heat pumps replacing fossil fuel (mainly gas but some oil)-fired boilers and water heaters and more electric stoves.
Bills to watch include House bills H.3203, H.3227, and H.3237 and especially Senate bill S.2105 , “An Act relative to the future of heat in the Commonwealth.”
Please contact your state legislators (representatives and senators) to urge them to pay serious attention to these bills and oblige gas utilities to plan sensibly for their transition away from gas over the next two to three decades and to a new business model, stopping their irresponsible expansion of foreseeably stranded assets (new pipelines) that will eventually have to be paid for. They will result in huge increases in gas delivery costs as the number of gas customers and the volume of gas delivered declines.
In addition, we recommend this article from Energy News Network. Author Sarah Shemkus provides a comprehensive overview of proposed bills that aim to phase out natural gas in Massachusetts.
