THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Public Utilities (DPU) issued a landmark order last December affirming that the Commonwealth must – and will – transition the building sector off of natural gas to meet our greenhouse gas emissions reduction mandates. Natural gas is currently the most commonly used fuel to heat our homes and workplaces in Massachusetts, primarily because it has been the lowest cost fuel.
But the low cost of gas is coming to an end. According to The Future of Gas, a Groundwork Data report, gas heating bills for Massachusetts ratepayers are expected to double within 10 years.
We tolerated gas explosion risks because we believed gas had lower emissions than other heating options. However, after accounting for methane leaks from the entire gas distribution system, heating with gas is actually worse for the climate than heating with oil or propane.
Clean, renewable energy has now become more affordable and widespread. Cold climate heat pumps are successfully heating homes across Massachusetts and in much colder climates like Maine. In Norway, Sweden, and Finland, heat pumps heat over 40 percent of homes. The cost of clean energy is dropping rapidly while the cost of heating with gas is rising. This trend will only continue.
The Massachusetts electric grid delivers almost 30 percent renewable energy today, and we’re just getting started. The first-in-the-nation, utility-developed, super-efficient networked geothermal system was just installed in Framingham. Bay Staters will not be heating their homes with gas in the future. The train has left the station and it’s time for gas companies to get on board.
Regrettably, gas companies are not yet on board. Instead, they are struggling to justify spending tens of billions of ratepayer funds to install more gas pipes in the ground. They promise to supply “cleaner” gasses, like renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen.
The promise of these fuels has been widely discredited by many experts, including the DPU and the Office of the Attorney General. RNG has high costs, limited availability, and marginal impact on emissions. Hydrogen is also expensive, highly leak prone, unproven, and more explosive than the pipeline gas now in use.
On the other hand, the transition to a real clean energy future will boost our local economy and create many jobs for skilled workers. According to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, by 2030 the demand for pipefitters, plumbers, and steamfitters will increase 11 percent; HVAC jobs will jump 17 percent; insulation workers will jump 25 percent; construction laborers 33 percent; and electricians 69 percent.
The clean energy transition is expected to create 123,000 new jobs in the Northeast alone. The Commonwealth will create family-sustaining careers in these fields and bring more women and people of color into the building trades by partnering with labor unions.
Both gas and electric utilities are proposing that ratepayers make massive investments in redundant infrastructure. Gas ratepayers are currently being charged almost $1 billion per year to replace pipes that will soon be obsolete, while National Grid wants to increase its investment in the electric grid seven-fold over the next five years.
This is counter to the Commonwealth’s commitment to maintain affordable utility services for its residents. Ratepayers shouldn’t be forced to pay these costs twice.
The time is now for the Legislature to eliminate the legal barriers preventing gas companies from evolving into clean heat providers and to protect ratepayers, while bringing utilities’ plans into line with the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction mandates. The Future of Clean Heat Act makes these changes.
Utilities can transition off gas, but they need a clear mandate from the Legislature that the time to start is now. While the transition will take many years, it is urgent that the Legislature begin this process now.The longer we delay, the more difficult and expensive it will be.
Mark Sandeen is a member of the Lexington Select Board. Hessann Farooqi is the executive director of the Boston Climate Action Network.
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