Reprinted from CommonWealth Beacon by permission of the authors, Larry Chretien and Marilyn Ray Smith
We are honored, Larry and Marilyn!
Massachusetts is facing a problem — and a choice — with its aging gas infrastructure. Due to the age of the Commonwealth’s gas pipes, thousands of new leaks containing methane are reported by gas companies each year, posing a significant threat to the safety and health of our residents. Furthermore, ratepayers will see major impacts on their gas bills as time goes on. In addition to an expected increase in the cost of gas, ratepayers are projected to be on the hook to pay back roughly $34 billion to replace leak-prone pipes, spent between 2022 and 2039.
Yet the majority of Massachusetts residents — 54 percent — would rather invest in new clean energy infrastructure than patch up the old gas system, according to a new poll commissioned by Rewiring America and Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
Rather than constructing new gas pipelines, most of our residents want to switch over to efficient, electric alternatives. Continuing to pour almost a billion dollars a year into a gas system that is expected to be obsolete by 2050 doesn’t make sense. It would double our gas bills in just 10 years and almost certainly mean we’ll miss hitting our climate mandates of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 — which would be a betrayal of our commitment to a sustainable future, and tantamount to abandoning the bold vision of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives has an opportunity to act this
session. An Act upgrading the grid and protecting ratepayers, passed by the Senate last week, has important provisions dedicated to updating the grid and protecting ratepayers. It will allow the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to consider whether there are cost-effective clean energy alternatives to gas that serve the public good and contribute toward our climate goals. The bill empowers the DPU to put the Commonwealth on the path to cleaner, safer, more affordable heat in the form of geothermal networks while reducing the burden on ratepayers of an aging, expensive, and hazardous gas system.
Geothermal networks use a series of underground water-filled pipes to heat and cool a network of buildings via ground-source heat pumps, making them six times more efficient than the most efficient gas furnace on the market today. This efficiency can in turn lead to big savings.
Eversource, which is installing a networked geothermal pilot in Framingham, predicts that customers who convert to a geothermal heating system will see up to a 20 percent reduction in energy bills. By allowing gas companies to pursue geothermal projects and other efficient electric equipment, we can alleviate pressure on the grid, reduce gas use, and put Massachusetts households on the path to cleaner, more affordable sources of energy to heat our homes and businesses.
Public support for these measures is clear. Among residents who consider themselves “very likely to vote,” 54 percent support requiring gas companies to retire heavily damaged parts of the gas system and switch affected customers to electric heat pumps.
Approximately 57 percent of Massachusetts residents support requiring newly constructed buildings in Massachusetts to use efficient electric appliances instead of fossil fuel appliances – support that rises even further to 63 percent among residents who are between the ages of 18 and 44.
The path to a healthier, more affordable future is clear. We need to allow gas companies to begin to retire in an orderly and thoughtful process economically unviable sections of the gas system, such as those serving few customers or those in need of replacement of leak-prone pipes.
It’s time for the House of Representatives to pass its own climate omnibus bill and to authorize the Commonwealth’s gas companies to begin investing in a cleaner, more reliable, and affordable heat.
Larry Chretien is the executive director of the nonprofit Energy Consumers Alliance. Marilyn Ray Smith is a retired attorney with decades of experience working for the Commonwealth. She works with HEET and the Gas Transition Allies.
This article and photo appeared in CommonWealth Beacon on July 2, 2024.
