As gas heating costs soar, no easy solutions from Beacon Hill
Take a look at any gas bill this winter, and it’s clear that spending on gas pipes is a large reason bills keep climbing in Massachusetts. Right now, gas customers are being forced to spend billions of dollars to both rebuild the gas system and subsidize the switch to electric heat through the state’s Mass Save program. State lawmakers say they’re aware something has to give, but as another winter heating season gets into full swing, there are no agreed-upon solutions on Beacon Hill.The top senator on the Utilities and Energy Committee tells NewsCenter 5 he understands the frustration and agrees that gas customers shouldn’t be paying for both expensive initiatives.”You can’t do both, not in equal measure,” said state Sen. Michael Barrett. “So if you’re going to default toward electricity, because that’s where our energy independent strategy for the future lies, you’ve got to bring down the gas costs.”But exactly the opposite has happened.As NewsCenter 5 reported last month, gas company spending on new pipes has grown year over year, peaking at $901 million this year. That’s up 300% in the past decade since the state started a new program called GSEP — Gas System Enhancement Plan — which lets gas companies do this pipe replacement work and pass the cost to customers in their rates right away.The cost to replace a single mile of pipe in Massachusetts has also exploded. In 2015, the statewide average was $1.32 million, but National Grid — the state’s largest gas company — says its construction cost next year will run $4.66 million, which is a more than threefold increase.Sen. Barrett says every new pipe in the ground should be questioned.”Every time you put in a new gas pipe, it’s 40 years addition to your monthly gas bill,” he said. “It’s like paying off a 40-year mortgage. So we have all these 40-year mortgages sitting around.”Barrett served on a group to study GSEP, which resulted in lawmakers last year instructing the Department of Public Utilities to tweak it. In response, DPU lowered the cap on gas company spending and encouraged them to focus on cheaper leak repair instead of pipe replacement. Despite those changes, the gas companies filed plans last month to spend more than $800 million in 2026, and there’s no clear end date.”Do you think the legislature needs to do more?” NewsCenter 5 reporter Ben Simmoneau asked Barrett.”Yeah, I think we’re going to have to take a look,” he said. “We’ve got to address costs.”Barrett expects there will be a bill to try to tackle these issues this session. But a first draft of an energy bill that would have made dramatic changes in an effort to slash utility bills seems to have died quietly in the House just before Thanksgiving. Among a number of sweeping changes, that bill would have capped future Mass Save budgets and made the state’s 2030 climate goal — a 50% drop in greenhouse gas emissions — nonbinding. Those moves were strongly opposed by climate activists.For his part, Sen. Barrett says the state’s climate goals already have flexibility built into them. He believes the state is on the right energy track overall, pointing out that neither gas nor oil is native to New England, but the region has an abundance of renewable energy sources, especially wind. He says the offshore Vineyard Wind project should come online in the next 45 days, providing 800 megawatts of new electricity generation for the New England grid.
Take a look at any gas bill this winter, and it’s clear that spending on gas pipes is a large reason bills keep climbing in Massachusetts.
Right now, gas customers are being forced to spend billions of dollars to both rebuild the gas system and subsidize the switch to electric heat through the state’s Mass Save program.
State lawmakers say they’re aware something has to give, but as another winter heating season gets into full swing, there are no agreed-upon solutions on Beacon Hill.
The top senator on the Utilities and Energy Committee tells NewsCenter 5 he understands the frustration and agrees that gas customers shouldn’t be paying for both expensive initiatives.
“You can’t do both, not in equal measure,” said state Sen. Michael Barrett. “So if you’re going to default toward electricity, because that’s where our energy independent strategy for the future lies, you’ve got to bring down the gas costs.”
But exactly the opposite has happened.
As NewsCenter 5 reported last month, gas company spending on new pipes has grown year over year, peaking at $901 million this year. That’s up 300% in the past decade since the state started a new program called GSEP — Gas System Enhancement Plan — which lets gas companies do this pipe replacement work and pass the cost to customers in their rates right away.
The cost to replace a single mile of pipe in Massachusetts has also exploded. In 2015, the statewide average was $1.32 million, but National Grid — the state’s largest gas company — says its construction cost next year will run $4.66 million, which is a more than threefold increase.
Sen. Barrett says every new pipe in the ground should be questioned.
“Every time you put in a new gas pipe, it’s 40 years addition to your monthly gas bill,” he said. “It’s like paying off a 40-year mortgage. So we have all these 40-year mortgages sitting around.”
Barrett served on a group to study GSEP, which resulted in lawmakers last year instructing the Department of Public Utilities to tweak it.
In response, DPU lowered the cap on gas company spending and encouraged them to focus on cheaper leak repair instead of pipe replacement. Despite those changes, the gas companies filed plans last month to spend more than $800 million in 2026, and there’s no clear end date.
“Do you think the legislature needs to do more?” NewsCenter 5 reporter Ben Simmoneau asked Barrett.
“Yeah, I think we’re going to have to take a look,” he said. “We’ve got to address costs.”
Barrett expects there will be a bill to try to tackle these issues this session. But a first draft of an energy bill that would have made dramatic changes in an effort to slash utility bills seems to have died quietly in the House just before Thanksgiving.
Among a number of sweeping changes, that bill would have capped future Mass Save budgets and made the state’s 2030 climate goal — a 50% drop in greenhouse gas emissions — nonbinding. Those moves were strongly opposed by climate activists.
For his part, Sen. Barrett says the state’s climate goals already have flexibility built into them. He believes the state is on the right energy track overall, pointing out that neither gas nor oil is native to New England, but the region has an abundance of renewable energy sources, especially wind.
He says the offshore Vineyard Wind project should come online in the next 45 days, providing 800 megawatts of new electricity generation for the New England grid.