By: Deb Pasternak, Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter Director
Many residents across Massachusetts are in for a shock when they open their electricity bills this month. National Grid has already increased electric rates by 64% in November from the same time last year and while we are likely to see utilities and power companies pointing fingers, there are two main reasons for these price hikes: increased exports of so-called “natural” methane gas and energy industry greed.
Massachusetts doesn’t have to be in this situation. Gas has always been a problem for reliability in New England, and American gas exports are making matters worse. Yet, local utilities continue bad faith arguments for continued dependence on gas, and are charging more for electricity to offset the increases in gas and to keep customers hooked since they have deep investments in gas infrastructure and close financial relationships with the gas companies.
For average folks who are just trying to keep their homes warm and lights on, the connection between gas exports and electricity bills may not be obvious. As it stands, gas is responsible for most of our state’s electricity generation. Despite not extracting any fracked gas here in New England, our utilities have become increasingly reliant on the imported fuel to produce electricity, while more than half of homes in our state fire their furnaces for heat using methane gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, National Grid and Eversource are competing for domestic gas supply with our European allies who previously sourced their gas from Russia.
Wind and solar, produced right here in New England, are the cheapest option for electricity generation. Clean energy advocates across the state continue to push for electrification to improve air quality and protect the environment. Electric, energy efficient appliances are zero emissions and are able to help with smart usage in high-demand times. The state and utilities need to be investing in more transmission capacity to add more clean energy to the grid. These investments would be a win-win for the environment and consumers.
Eversource raked in a record $1 billion in profits. It’s no wonder - utilities in Massachusetts have asked for and receive up to a guaranteed 11% rate of return for every pipeline they put in the street, paid for by ratepayers. Meanwhile, many folks across the state are having to choose between heating their homes or putting food on the table or paying their medical bills.
The average national household energy burden for low income households is 8.6% - 6% is considered the maximum affordable amount. In Massachusetts, the average energy burden is 10% for low income populations, as compared to the average energy burden of 3%. In some areas of the state, the energy burden is as high as 31%. Energy burden disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people, and also directly links to other issues like unsafe housing, high eviction rates, and health problems.
The expansion of gas exports is a disaster for our climate. In fact, Climate Action Tracker recently said the world will not be able to meet climate goals with gas. As if that were not bad enough, the communities on the frontline of LNG export terminals tend to be Black and low-income and have been sacrificed to the worst of our nation’s fossil fuel pollution that makes their air unsafe to breathe and pollutes valuable waterways. An even greater build-out of gas exports won’t help Europe in the near-term and would only lock the country into dirty and expensive infrastructure.
Aside from the dire climate implications and the health and environmental risks to frontline communities, LNG exports cause very real problems for Massachusetts residents. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recently released its annual Winter Energy Market and Reliability Assessment where the agency acknowledged that increased gas prices are due to expanded exports. The report says, “Even though natural gas production growth will likely outpace domestic natural gas demand growth in winter 2022-2023, forecasts anticipate that continued growth in net exports, including from liquified ‘natural gas (LNG) export facilities, will place additional pressure on natural gas prices this winter.”
Many opportunities to scale up wind farms for locally sourced, renewable energy have been squandered. Unlike gas or oil, clean and renewable energy sources made here in New England, like wind and solar, won’t run out and will provide a secure and stable energy supply long into the future. Plus, clean energy has the added, critical benefit of bringing down costs for energy consumers in the state. Instead, energy decision makers have remained beholden to gas. That needs to change now.