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

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…