#No fracked gas in mass how to#
The second phase should focus on how to develop and carry out the necessary changes in a way that protects the state’s gas consumers. This phase also should include input from stakeholders on necessary regulatory, policy and legislative changes.
The first phase should require the gas companies to submit detailed economic analyses and business plans that project the state’s future gas demand in a carbon-constrained economy, including probable revenues, expenses and investments. The AG’s Office recommends that the DPU conduct a two-phased investigation. “We applaud the Attorney General for asking the Department of Public Utilities to investigate how we can manage this needed energy transition while still helping to ensure that all families can afford the energy they need to keep their homes warm.” “Massachusetts must reduce use of natural gas to meet its important climate change goals, but that poses real threats to customers – especially low-income customers – many who can't afford to switch from natural gas to clean electricity heating systems,” said Charlie Harak, Managing Attorney of the National Consumer Law Center’s Energy Unit. “ELM applauds the Attorney General’s DPU petition on the future role of natural gas,” said Elizabeth Henry, President of the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM). “The science is clear that the widespread combustion of natural gas and other fossil fuels is fundamentally at odds with combatting climate change. The Commonwealth has a legally binding goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but new natural gas infrastructure projects are still being proposed by developers – and approved by the DPU. This assessment is overdue.” “The investigation Attorney General Healey has requested is an essential first step in securing the health and future prosperity of all New England communities.” “The Attorney General has called the question on which the future of New England’s economy, our global climate, and the rule of law in the Commonwealth will turn: when and how are we going to wean our energy system off of fracked gas and other dirty fossil fuels as mandated by current law?” said Brad Campbell, President of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). Today’s petition urges the DPU to work with stakeholders to develop a nation-leading regulatory and policy roadmap that protects customers during the necessary transition away from reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuels.
It also will require the DPU to develop new policies and structures. This decline in fossil fuel demand will have profound impacts on gas distribution companies and will require them to make significant changes to their planning processes and business model. In the petition filed with the DPU today, the AG’s Office recognized the state’s findings that the heating sector must make sizeable reductions in its use of fossil fuels to achieve Massachusetts’s legally binding statewide limit of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “We want the DPU to take a close look at the future of the natural gas industry in Massachusetts and make the policy and structural changes we need to ensure a clean energy future that is safe, reliable, and fair.” “In order to combat the climate crisis and meet our clean energy goals, we must transition away from fossil fuels and change the way gas utilities do business in our state,” AG Healey said. BOSTON - Today, Attorney General Maura Healey has called on the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to open an investigation into the future of the natural gas industry as Massachusetts transitions away from fossil fuels and toward a clean renewable energy future by 2050.
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