As Massachusetts winds down another summer of record-breaking extreme heat and intensifying climate-related emergencies, the need for bold, decisive action has never been more urgent. Yet as millions of residents suffered under yet another heatwave this past July, driven in part by the massive amount of methane gas we burn in our homes and businesses, our leaders let a promising climate bill collapse, caving under industry pressure and a lack of
vision among our lawmakers.
Massachusetts residents can’t afford to wait another two years for
lawmakers on Beacon Hill to get their act together. The Legislature must reconvene this fall to pass a comprehensive climate bill that moves our state beyond gas.
The infrastructure decisions we make today will reverberate for decades to come. Massachusetts is poised to spend an unprecedented amount of public funding on electric infrastructure upgrades to power a clean energy future. This is also a boon for electric utilities which see an opportunity to make more money than ever to build and maintain that infrastructure.
Yet if lawmakers don’t take action today, Massachusetts ratepayers could be on
the hook for massive costs to prop up two energy systems – methane gas and electric – when we only need one to meet our needs. Our leaders faced a clear choice: protect consumers, or protect industry profits. By failing to pass a climate bill, they failed to protect their constituents and consumers across the state.
The Senate’s climate bill was a strong step toward Massachusetts’s climate goals while also shielding residents from rising energy costs. In addition to siting reform provisions similar to those advanced in the House’s climate bill and the governor’s closeout supplemental budget, the Senate bill included common sense measures to begin curbing the expansion and overspending in our gas system.
The Senate bill would have empowered the Department of Public Utilities to ensure any gas spending served the public good, and help redirect that funding toward clean energy alternatives if it failed to meet this basic standard. It also opened up new opportunities for gas companies to invest in clean energy alternatives, such as networked geothermal systems, which can provide climate-friendly heating and cooling to entire neighborhoods, and broadly popular provisions that would protect consumers by banning competitive electricity suppliers— companies that often target low-income households with predatory pricing—and prioritizing much-needed upgrades to the electric grid.
Massachusetts’s gas infrastructure is projected to cost ratepayers a staggering $34 billion from 2022 to 2034 as utilities continue replacing aging pipelines. At the same time, there’s more funding than ever to help upgrade homes and buildings with electric alternatives, like heat pumps, making much of this gas infrastructure obsolete.
Why, then, are we continuing to invest billions in a system that has no future? The only ones who benefit from this arrangement are the gas companies themselves, whose profits are guaranteed by these capital-intensive projects.
For residents, the costs are already adding up. Gas rates are rising, and the constant disruption from pipeline work is a daily headache in many communities. Beyond the financial burden, the public health risks associated with methane gas are significant. Methane is a potent greenhouse
gas that accelerates climate change, but when burned it emits pollutants that contribute to respiratory illnesses, particularly in low-income and environmental justice communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution from fossil fuels.
To make our communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change, we need to ensure that our homes and businesses can keep us safe in a warming world. This means helping as many households as possible invest in the energy efficiency measures and efficient electric equipment that can keep us comfortable year round, without threatening our health. Every dollar
sunk on methane gas pipes is a dollar that could have gone toward solutions that improve public health, make our communities more resilient against climate change, and lower costs for residents.
The consequences of inaction are clear: by failing to pass a comprehensive climate bill, the Legislature has not only delayed necessary reforms but also condemned residents to higher energy bills and greater climate-induced risks.
The Massachusetts Legislature must come back and pass a comprehensive climate bill that ends wasteful methane gas spending, upgrades our electric infrastructure, and addresses the cumulative health and environmental impacts of energy infrastructure on overburdened communities. The time for half-measures is over—the future of our state depends on bold, decisive action now.
Caitlin Peale Sloan is vice president for Massachusetts of the Conservation Law Foundation.
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