LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER.....
OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM!
ALL POSTS ARE AVAILABLE ON
MIDDLEBORO REVIEW AND SO ON
BLOGGER DOESN'T LIKE TRUTH OR FACTS!
BLOGGER DOESN'T LIKE FUND RAISERS AND DELETES
POSTS THAT INCLUDE FUNDRAISING THAT 'VIOLATES THEIR
UNDEFINED COMMUNITY STANDARDS SO ALL 'FUND RAISING'
IS DELETED - CONTRIBUTE AS YOU ARE INCLINED TO SUPPORT
IMPORTANT ISSUES! THESE ARE NOT SOLICITATIONS
New from CommonWealth Beacon |
|
|
LEGISLATURE: House lawmakers passed a grab-bag economic development bill on Wednesday, including authorizing hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing and housing and zoning reforms. Katie Castellani at State House News Service has the rundown of everything lawmakers put on the table for consideration. |
|
|
OPINION: Merging the best of both the House and Senate versions of energy affordability legislation can combat both high prices and the risks posed by climate change, write Erin Baker and Jared Starr from the Energy Transition Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. |
|
|
|
|
|
Perhaps nowhere in Massachusetts are the tensions associated with moving away from natural gas for heating our homes and buildings more pronounced than in the state’s 10 communities that have pledged to go “fossil fuel free.” |
|
|
In Acton, Aquinnah, Arlington, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Newton, and Northampton, after weathering “agita” on the part of former governor Charlie Baker and initial legal blows to the effort, municipal officials secured state approval to adopt policies that ban fossil fuel hookups in most new construction and major renovations. Those communities are now on the front lines of what is essentially an experiment to see if they can tangibly kickstart a complicated transition off natural gas and meet local climate targets, while not scaring away developers with higher costs and new burdensome red tape. |
|
|
But as these municipalities are quickly finding out, moving off gas for new buildings doesn’t preclude the utilities from needing to spend tens of millions of dollars each year upgrading the existing gas system by replacing pipes and ensuring the residents and businesses in those cities and towns currently served by gas stay on gas. |
|
|
Eversource and National Grid, the two largest gas companies serving the state, have collectively spent about $100 million on the gas system in nine of those 10 communities, roughly since they adopted their fossil fuel-free ordinances. The bulk of the spending has been to replace leaky pipes, according to utility filings with state regulators analyzed by CommonWealth Beacon. Another $50 million is expected to be spent in those municipalities this year. |
|
|
Regulators approved those costs, which are collected from ratepayers on an expedited basis, through the state’s Gas System Enhancement Plan, a program enacted in 2014 that is intended to incentivize gas companies to more quickly fix leaks in their gas pipes that emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in order to cut pollution and maintain the system’s safety. |
|
|
The program has led to real leak reductions: At the end of 2024, the last year of available data, gas companies reported a total of 9,000 leaks in the system, compared with nearly 21,000 a decade earlier, according to DPU data. |
|
|
But GSEP is now under heavy scrutiny for ballooning spending that has delivered few additional benefits at a time when Massachusetts residents are confronting soaring gas and electric bills. The program accounts for 8 to 11 percent of gas customers’ charges, capital spending that is driving up residential gas bills despite a decline in the amount of gas actually being used. The gas companies spent a record $814 million through GSEP in 2024 – a nearly 40 percent increase from the year prior despite replacing slightly fewer miles of leak-prone pipe than 2023. |
|
|
Beacon Hill, in its quest to slash energy bills, is now weighing a proposal advanced by the Senate to end the program altogether by 2030. |
|
|
Nothing about the fossil fuel free policies adopted in the 10 communities precludes the gas companies from investing money in the current sprawling network of 21,000 miles of pipe across Massachusetts and obtaining approval from the Department of Public Utilities to recover costs associated with that work. But the contrast is generating tensions around how far and fast the state is willing to go to transition off natural gas for heating and cooking in buildings, which accounts for 36 percent of emissions in Massachusetts, as the state pushes to cut pollution 85 percent compared with 1990 levels by 2050. |
|
|
David Morgan, Arlington’s environmental planner, said that there’s an “important role” for GSEP to play in fixing leaks and maintaining a safe gas system. But now, he said, it’s taken on a life of its own – raising costs for consumers and stifling the state’s clean energy transition. |
|
|
"We want to see something that is effective and meets our climate action plan goals,” Morgan said. |
|
|
| Scammers are getting smarter—and Bay Staters are paying the price. Criminals are using cryptocurrency ATMs to commit fraud, stealing people's retirement savings and costing Bay Staters millions of dollars a year. It’s time to crack down. Pass a ban on crypto ATMs to prevent scams and protect Bay Staters hard-earned money. Learn more at aarp.org/ma |
|
|
|
|
|
More from CommonWealth Beacon |
|
|
NURSES STRIKE: A negotiating stalemate between Mass General Brigham and thousands of nurses and home care clinicians spilled into Gov. Maura Healey’s office Monday, as she pushed for a compromise ahead of a historic strike this week. Alison Kuznitz of State House News Service has more. |
|
|
OPINION: To address the growing health care affordability crisis, Massachusetts must look at how to control hospital costs while maintaining the high-quality care that has long defined our state’s health care system, write Eileen McAnneny, president and CEO of the Employer Coalition on Health, and Michael Bailit, president of Bailit Health. They say other states, including neighboring Rhode Island, point the way. |
|
|
|
|
|
POLITICS: Sen. Ed Markey and primary challenger Rep. Seth Moulton met for their first debate in Chicopee, trading barbs as age takes center stage in the race. (The Boston Globe – paywall) |
|
|
HIGHWAY PLAZAS: A new commission overseeing the process for rebidding the state’s highway service plaza revamp, which has been marred in scandal, met in Worcester and looks to be readying to put out its request for proposals. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette – paywall) |
|
|
STRIKE: Nurses involved in the largest such strike in state history were expecting to return to work Thursday, but may need to wait longer. (The Boston Globe – paywall) |
|
|
HEALTH CARE: The Massachusetts health care system is in “crisis” mode after the nation’s high court ends legal protections for Haitians, who are a key part of the state's health care workforce. (GBH News) |
|
|
OYSTERS: Newburyport is reaping the benefits of 80,000 baby oysters to reinvigorate the local population while protecting against pollution. (Mass Live) |
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.