Two years ago, Massachusetts regulators created a\u00a0framework for phasing out the use of natural gas in buildings \u2014 a\u00a0groundbreaking move for the state\u2019s decarbonization efforts. Today, however, momentum has slowed as gas companies clash with lawmakers, regulators, and advocates on a\u00a0fundamental question: Are utilities legally obligated to provide gas service to any consumer who wants\u00a0it?<\/p>\n
The debate may seem arcane, but at stake is the speed and scope of Massachusetts\u2019 clean energy transition \u2014 and one of the nation\u2019s first major attempts at a\u00a0managed shift away from\u00a0gas.<\/p>\n
National Grid, Eversource, and other gas utilities say the answer is a\u00a0resounding yes. The ability of residents and businesses to choose gas service is a \u200b\u201cfundamental right,\u201d said Eversource spokesperson Olessa Stepanova: \u200b\u201cWe cannot force them off that service.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the argument, advocates contend that safeguarding public health and fighting climate change are urgent benefits that outweigh individual customers\u2019 personal preferences for one kind of fuel. The obligation, in their view, is to provide functional heating \u2014 not a\u00a0specific source. The utilities, they say, are looking for ways to delay an inevitable upheaval in their industry rather than collaborating on a\u00a0smooth transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey see this as an existential threat to their business model, and they are digging in. They\u2019re not at the table,\u201d said James Van Nostrand, who chaired the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities when it issued the 2023 order, and who is now policy director at The Future of Heat Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Massachusetts has long been a\u00a0leader in pushing for a\u00a0transition away from using natural gas and other fossil fuels to heat buildings and to fuel stoves and dryers.<\/p>\n In October 2020, the state was one of the first in the nation to launch a \u200b\u201cFuture of Gas\u201d investigation, a\u00a0process examining how gas companies can play a\u00a0role in the clean energy transition and what that should look like. In December 2023, the state Department of Public Utilities wrapped up the investigation with a\u00a0137-page report<\/a> that spelled out a\u00a0clear vision of stopping the expansion of gas service and decommissioning some portions of the infrastructure, but largely left it to lawmakers, regulators, and utilities to enact the principles<\/a> outlined.<\/p>\n The future laid out in the document goes like this: Rather than automatically investing in new gas infrastructure or replacing aging pipes, utilities will look for opportunities to deploy \u200b\u201cnon-gas pipeline alternatives\u201d \u2014 like geothermal networks<\/a>, air-source heat pumps<\/a>, energy efficiency, or demand response \u2014 that can meet customers\u2019 needs. Gas utilities will proactively coordinate with electric utilities to ensure the poles and wires can accommodate, say, switching dozens of houses in an area to heat pumps. The order also calls for utilities to undertake demonstration projects to test out the process of transitioning neighborhood-scale portions of the gas system to electrified heat or thermal networks.<\/p>\n The order called for gas utilities to submit plans detailing how they would assess whether an area could be equally or better served by a\u00a0non-gas option. They did so in April 2025, but there is a\u00a0catch: Utilities insist that they need customers to agree to participate in any such alternatives.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to accomplish any decommissioning if you have to have that 100% buy-in from all the customers,\u201d Van Nostrand said.<\/p>\n At the heart of the utilities\u2019 argument is the legal concept of \u200b\u201cobligation to serve.\u201d The idea, a\u00a0common principle in utilities regulation, is that a\u00a0gas utility can\u2019t just cut off customers it is already serving; if you want to keep gas, you get to. Requiring customers to modify their equipment would infringe on their constitutional property rights, the gas utilities argue<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years ago, Massachusetts regulators created a\u00a0framework for phasing out the use of natural gas in buildings \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-198756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}