New gas facilities in Massachusetts represent a colossal waste of ratepayer dollars. As demand continues to decline, new pipelines and other infrastructure lose all value but, once they’re built, ratepayers will have to go on paying them off for years to come.
Finally, the big utilities have openly admitted they don’t need new gas capacity. Of course, we’ve been saying it for years – and Attorney General Healey said it in a 2015 study. The utility industry had quietly confirmed it in footnotes to their 2018 reports for state regulators. But now, in on-the-record statements, National Grid and Eversource have owned up to the fact that they don’t need the extra gas capacity that would be provided from the proposed Weymouth Compressor station. What they still haven’t admitted is that’s equally true for every other proposed expansion of the state’s fossil gas system: there is simply no need for extra gas capacity when it comes to meeting current or future demand for energy in Massachusetts.
The Weymouth Compressor now stands revealed as nothing more than a speculative investment designed to reap big profits by exporting fossil methane to Canada and other markets. All the project would do for Massachusetts is impose unacceptable safety risks and serious health hazards on thousands of our residents. There would be zero benefit to our state, our economy, our environment or our quality of life.
According to a report from WBUR, “Two utility companies involved with the proposed natural gas compressor station in Weymouth say they don't need the facility to meet customer demand. Now, opponents of the compressor station are calling into question whether the project . . . meets the ‘public convenience and necessity’’ requirement for federal approval.”
This is a huge admission with statewide implications. Across the Commonwealth, gas companies are pushing for expanded pipelines, new compressor and metering stations, and new LNG tank farms. But – thanks to the growing availability and affordability of renewables – demand for gas is actually dropping in Massachusetts. New gas facilities have only one purpose: to increase the state’s use of, and dependence on, an outmoded, polluting and unsafe fossil fuel.
Our state and our utility industry should be investing in the future, not the past. The way forward is clear. Step One: Stop building new pipelines and other new gas projects. Step Two: Fix dangerous and expensive leaks instead. Step Three: Implement a clear, enforceable plan to move away from all fossil fuels and embrace a clean energy future.