[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6056825,"mediaKeyId","3308712-19713872aa2eff42319412b760723131","parentId",3308712,"title","Stakeholders say gas climate compliance plans lack numeric targets; obligation to serve clouds neighborhood electrification","audioSeconds",5236,"startMs",29000,"endMs",5265000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3308712-19713872aa2eff42319412b760723131&start=29&end=5265","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3308712-19713872aa2eff42319412b760723131/thumbnail_29000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6056825/Massachusetts/Stakeholders-say-gas-climate-compliance-plans-lack-numeric-targets-obligation-to-serve-clouds-neighborhood-electrification","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6056825-304673d819a9036b5476bc39744a55d4/orig.mp4?Expires=1770984555&Signature=bFGCwEm0J83DsJz5JNWVLz3qICHpu4lhJjBRMprjRqxsj7j0Lb4XH-lzfvatTyQRIxyJRLglAmNkYX7lZbqL9dt4bSGLwdku9gAyLYZirqR9wwajfOdJ4bWrpd4HiT0dEjhH3qBWDGMjFeDgKsIQtYsEmDp3FhnE77ojjXN2WkPA13Evkc3xCQJ7KaUyxNKl7DQBvQl3H2TwgMkuBULYnHLeU9JkTtX41ACci7q8G4bj3gFaLw2qOifcTMqV2ubh8ppdVbmOk8VMzvkXeoQpN8uP41OCKfJD22oBCOn5k6xAL4MBqFu8bM9ri56ZBJ87sRoZNIQ2UGNaRRc9j47yyA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Massachusetts Senate","date","2025-05-14T00:00:00Z","article","Senators and witnesses at a Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming hearing said the climate compliance plans filed April 1 by Massachusetts' gas utilities fall short of the DPU's expectation that companies provide clear, quantitative road maps for how they will help the Commonwealth meet sector emission sublimits.

The plans were required under the DPU’s Future of Gas docket (No. 2080) to show how each local distribution company (LDC) would contribute to greenhouse‑gas reductions while continuing to meet customer needs \"safely, reliably, affordably and equitably,\" DPU Chair Jamie Van Nostrand reminded the committee.

Attorney General Mary Gardner, who litigated the GSEP cases and is participating in the CCP dockets, told senators the filings are largely aggregations of other dockets and do not show how the combined measures would meet the building‑sector sublimits. \"The CCPs do not provide a detailed analysis showing how these efforts taken together will help the Commonwealth meet its goal of net‑zero by 2050,\" Gardner said. She and other witnesses said the plans provide limited detail on scope‑3 emissions — the gas throughput and customer combustion that drive building‑sector emissions — and lack numeric electrification targets.

Advocates pressed the utilities to say how many customers must convert to electric heating to hit the 2030 and 2050 goals. Ben Butterworth of Acadia Center said heating and cooling sublimits mean the state must cut building emissions by 36% from 2021 levels by 2030 and 92% by 2050, and that the CCPs do not provide the scenario analysis or measurable metrics needed to show the utilities' contributions.

Utilities said the plans reflect early work and that pilots and integrated energy planning (IEP) will inform more actionable measures. Caroline Hahn, National Grid vice president for regulation and pricing, described National Grid's target electrification demonstration filed December 2024 to offer roughly 18 residential customers in Winthrop and Leominster voluntary conversion to all‑electric heat and said pilots are intended to produce lessons for scaling. Eversource's Nikki Bruno said the company’s Framingham network geothermal pilot demonstrates customer engagement lessons but cautioned that customer outreach and tailored education take time.

A recurring concern at the hearing was the legal and practical meaning of the obligation to serve once communities electrify. Amy Boyd Rabin of the Environmental League of Massachusetts said some utilities appear to interpret the duty as an absolute right for any customer to demand gas service indefinitely, which could block neighborhood decommissioning unless regulators explicitly allow alternatives. \"The obligation to serve is a function of the public interest, and the DPU should have the discretion to identify what the public interest is,\" Rabin said.

Municipal officials and residents urged earlier, clearer notice of street segments planned for replacement so communities can propose NPAs before utilities proceed. Talia Fox, Arlington’s sustainability manager, told the committee that by the time a GSEP filing lists a project it is often \"too late\" for a municipality to marshal an electrification alternative. Newton resident John Sloat described a Garland Road neighborhood survey that found widespread resident support for conversion and estimated capital costs for electrification that compared favorably with planned pipe replacement.

Several witnesses raised transparency and cost‑allocation issues. The attorney general's office and advocates urged public access to the calculations underlying NPA screening and to clear metrics for reporting progress, warning that absent concrete targets and public scrutiny, the CCPs could be used to justify continued investment in gas or expensive low‑carbon fuels with limited emissions benefits.

The DPU and the Attorney General said they will press the utilities for more detail in ongoing CCP proceedings and will coordinate IEP and GSEP reviews. Senators asked utilities to produce clearer, short‑term numeric estimates of likely bill impacts from DPU actions so the legislature can fold them into broader energy affordability work.

The hearing left open several near‑term issues for regulators and the legislature: whether DPU will require quantified customer‑conversion targets in CCPs, how the obligation to serve will be implemented to allow decommissioning where appropriate, and whether changes to line‑extension policy or new legislation are needed to prevent subsidized expansion of gas service contrary to climate goals.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming -- 5-14-2025","oneSentenceSummary","Senators and witnesses said gas utilities' climate compliance plans filed April 1 do not provide the clear, numeric targets and scenario analysis the Department of Public Utilities sought to show how utilities will help meet sector emission sublimits.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature MA, Massachusetts","taxId",77682,"location","Massachusetts","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6056830,"DPU cuts gas pipe-replacement caps, pushes utilities toward cheaper repairs and non‑pipeline solutions",7895,239000,8134000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3308712-19713872aa2eff42319412b760723131&start=239&end=8134","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3308712-19713872aa2eff42319412b760723131/thumbnail_239000.jpg","/articles/6056830/Massachusetts/DPU-cuts-gas-pipe-replacement-caps-pushes-utilities-toward-cheaper-repairs-and-nonpipeline-solutions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6056830-127489fb00851b7d3eda6e0ae35106fa/orig.mp4?Expires=1770984555&Signature=UsfhQwMxi~JSZhv8K8HPvewKEP4DUvM3VD4LdRUwJfHEXzdkHoXDqbCijqpRTJv~gV8rmPaT8qz8BvyE19CO11gPomA2liWHIPt6gojiyqjH5ZN8QInm8b3gugWGIlfUFvZBs9MmKXxuFGsxMRbFnbljfzz-l3SwtXLzqxn9eYqhkFiF~Rd0-U0Fi1MkIdcWVpp-jQVzq~nYtC7~Wg7zouCHPYB7fJYYsDf9EmWu8fNIdGg1s~QUKkmIDrJva2asiKreJp5ZAB9jOcbfhI9KYlZsag1PdjeMSBQHhT16KnWnx-84yhewtwhal0hHB5ANAX8kS5VGAAUxiuacoz56YQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities this spring ordered immediate reductions to how much gas utilities can recover under the Gas System Enhancement Program, aiming to slow rapid spending on pipe replacement and push companies to consider lower‑cost repairs and non‑pipeline alternatives.

The order lowers the GSEP revenue cap from 3% of a utility's revenue to 2.5% immediately, directs a glide path to 2% in 2026 and 1.5% in 2027, and eliminated carrying charges on amounts spent above the cap, DPU Chair Jamie Van Nostrand told the Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming.

The DPU said the changes are intended to protect ratepayers and align utility spending with the Commonwealth's clean‑energy mandates. Utilities now must use more rigorous risk prioritization, make greater use of advanced leak‑detection and repair technologies, and formally evaluate non‑pipeline alternatives before replacing mains, the department said.

DPU Chair Jamie Van Nostrand, in testimony, summarized the regulator's findings: \"We concluded in the order that the absence of meaningful incentives to control costs was contributing to unnecessary spending and an overreliance on pipe replacement to the exclusion of lower cost alternatives.\" She added that the pipeline safety division will lead a new risk‑assessment working group and scheduled its first meeting for May 27.

Attorney General Mary Gardner, who participated in the GSEP litigation, told the committee the DPU reforms adopt many of the attorney general's recommendations. \"The elimination of carrying charges ... will have a very significant impact on ratepayers in a positive way,\" Gardner said, adding that further reductions of the GSEP cap toward the statutory minimum would reduce incentives for imprudent spending.

Data presented at the hearing illustrated why regulators intervened. Chair Van Nostrand noted that average capital spending per mile under GSEP rose from about $1.32 million in 2015 to about $3.46 million projected in 2025 while miles remediated grew at under 3% annually. Measured another way, miles replaced per $10 million declined from about 7.59 miles in 2015 to 2.89 miles in 2025.

Dorothy Sevey of Groundwork Data estimated the long‑run cost of GSEP spending could reach roughly $42 billion in constant dollars (about $60 billion nominal), noting the program's multi‑decade payback and downstream effects on bills.

Utility witnesses said they welcomed sharper cost controls but cautioned that non‑pipeline alternatives and neighborhood electrification pilots take time. Nikki Bruno, vice president of clean technologies at Eversource, described the Framingham network geothermal pilot and called customer outreach and tailored education \"essential\" to adoption. Gerhard Walker, Eversource's director of integrated energy planning, said utilities must coordinate gas and electric planning and that pilots will provide lessons for scaling NPAs.

National Grid's Caroline Hahn said the company filed a targeted electrification demonstration in December 2024 that would seek voluntary conversion of roughly 18 residential customers across segments in Leominster and Winthrop and noted NPAs currently must meet participation thresholds to serve as a decommissioning pathway.

Stakeholders urged faster action and transparency. Mira Fickling (Current Energy Group) and Jocelyn Lee (Conservation Law Foundation) said GSEP as implemented had encouraged broad pipe replacement because accelerated cost recovery let utilities begin recouping investments immediately, and they pressed for public access to the analyses that underlie NPA screening and project prioritization.

Local officials and residents described timing and notification problems that make neighborhood alternatives difficult. Talia Fox, sustainability manager for Arlington, said by the time a GSEP filing lists a project \"it is likely too late to realistically implement electrification as an alternative to pipeline replacement.\" Newton resident John Sloat, who led a Garland Road neighborhood survey, urged earlier disclosure of street segments slated for work so communities can organize NPAs.

The DPU order also established a requirement for more rigorous justification of pipe replacements and signaled continued review of line extension policies and climate compliance plans to align spending with state climate goals. The department and the attorney general said further oversight will continue through reconciliation dockets and the new risk prioritization group.

As the DPU executes the orders, the legislature and stakeholders will watch whether the cap reductions and removal of carrying charges yield lower bills and faster adoption of non‑pipeline alternatives, and whether regulators can accelerate community‑level planning timelines so NPAs can be proposed before pipe replacements are executed.","The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities ordered near‑term reductions to the Gas System Enhancement Program cap and eliminated carrying charges, directing utilities to prioritize lower‑cost leak fixes, non‑pipeline alternatives and a tighter risk‑prioritization process amid concerns about rising customer bills and stranded assets.","actionData","errors"]

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Stakeholders say gas climate compliance plans lack numeric targets; obligation to serve clouds neighborhood electrification

DPU cuts gas pipe-replacement caps, pushes utilities toward cheaper repairs and non‑pipeline solutions