New England's largest energy utility, Eversource, has parted ways with the American Gas Association 鈥� a powerful industry group that environmentalists say has been instrumental in blocking efforts to address climate change around the country.
Eversource spokesperson Chris McKinnon told WBUR that the utility canceled its membership with the group in early 2022 as part of a broader, strategic effort to prioritize 鈥渄ecarbonization鈥� and reduce planet-warming emissions.
鈥淓versource is more than a natural gas utility,鈥� McKinnon wrote in an email. 鈥淚t was a company-wide decision to withdraw membership from the American Gas Association and redirect costs to more targeted associations and memberships with a focus on decarbonization to support our company-wide operations.鈥�
Eversource鈥檚 departure appears to mark the first time a major utility has left the influential gas trade group over diverging climate agendas, a move some energy experts call 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� and say could be a harbinger of things to come.
鈥淭he American Gas Association is a prominent voice in the utility industry. So it鈥檚 a big deal to see one of their major members leave and indicate that they鈥檙e going to focus on decarbonization,鈥� said Charlie Spatz, a researcher with the Energy Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group. 鈥淚 think it's very possible that we see more utilities follow the lead of the Eversource.鈥�
McKinnon noted that the utility鈥檚 decision to leave was 鈥渘ot necessarily based on an incompatibility with the AGA.鈥� But Spatz said he thinks the company was just being politically cautious.
There鈥檚 an 鈥渦nspoken decorum鈥� in the monopoly utility world that says companies shouldn鈥檛 disparage or undermine each other, he said.
鈥淐iting decarbonization, I think, is about as diplomatic as [Eversource is] going get to saying that AGA's climate policies weren't aligned with theirs," Spatz said. "It鈥檚 a pretty clear way to say 鈥榠t鈥檚 a climate thing鈥� without saying it.鈥�
And that, he added, is a very big deal.
Leah Stokes, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, agreed, calling Eversource鈥檚 departure 鈥渂ig news.鈥�
Stokes is the author of the book 鈥溾�� which documents how utilities in the U.S. have worked to obstruct clean energy laws and promote climate denial and delay. She said the American Gas Association has played a key role in helping utilities fight local and state efforts to heat buildings with electricity instead of natural gas.
The group has tried 鈥渢o spread misinformation about electrification鈥� and supported so-called that make it impossible for municipal leaders to ban fossil fuels in new buildings, she said. It has also pro-gas front groups, to extoll the virtues of gas appliances on social media, federal energy efficiency standards and on the science showing gas appliances can be harmful to human health.
鈥淸The American Gas Association] has been on the front lines of delaying the clean energy transition,鈥� Stokes said. 鈥淭o have a gas utility wake up and say, 鈥榶ou know what? We don't want to be part of the problem anymore. We want to be part of the solution鈥� 鈥� that's a really hopeful trend.鈥�
Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the American Gas Association, confirmed that Eversource is no longer a member of the group. She declined, however, to comment on the company鈥檚 decision to leave or criticisms that the group has worked to block building decarbonization. She said only that 鈥渃ustomers want natural gas鈥� and that 鈥渆nsuring access for the 187 million Americans who use it daily benefits families and the economy and is an important part of helping our nation achieve its energy and environment goals.鈥�
As some politicians have rallied behind fossil fuels, others in states like
Massachusetts and 黑料吃瓜网 鈥� where Eversource delivers gas to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses every day 鈥� have joined the 鈥渆lectrify everything鈥� movement and committed to slashing building emissions by replacing fossil fuels with electric sources of heat.
For utilities operating in states with strong climate laws, it may be politically untenable to maintain an affiliation with the American Gas Association, Spatz said.
鈥淵ou really lose your legitimacy if you're working with local officials and you're sending money to groups that are slowing down the building decarbonization movement," Spatz said.
Spatz said that utilities have traditionally maintained that they need to be members of the American Gas Association 鈥� and its counterpart on the electric side, the Edison Electric Institute 鈥� for the important training materials and logistical support it provides.
But Eversource鈥檚 departure shows that it鈥檚 possible to function without the group鈥檚 support, he said. And it 鈥渃ould send a powerful message鈥� to other gas utilities operating in states with similarly progressive climate policies.
Plus, , Spatz added.
For years, many major utilities were members of the American Coalition of Clean Coal Electricity, now called America鈥檚 Power. But the group began bleeding members (and funds) as the political winds shifted and supporting coal fell out of favor.
McKinnon did not say how much money Eversource spent annually on membership in the American Gas Association 鈥� though National Grid, Massachusetts鈥� other major utility, paid $385,000 in membership dues in 2022.
He did say the money the company once spent on its dues to the association has been redirected to others groups like the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, MIT Future Energy Systems Center and AICHE H2 Safety, which promotes hydrogen. Most utility trade dues are .
McKinnon also confirmed that Eversource remains a member of the Energy Solutions Center, another pro-gas nonprofit. Eversource made headlines in 2021 for its affiliation with the group after published leaked documents that showed the utility鈥檚 involvement in a committee that was working to 鈥渃ombat electrification.鈥�
In describing the company鈥檚 decision to leave the American Gas Association, McKinnon said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking an all-encompassing approach to explore innovative ways to decarbonize the natural gas system.鈥� He cited the company鈥檚 in Framingham as an example.
The $14.7 million project, the country鈥檚 first utility-scale networked geothermal system, will use a network of deep wells and pipes to provide climate-friendly heating and cooling for 37 buildings. From a technological and workforce perspective, networked geothermal has many similarities to building and maintaining a gas pipeline system. And advocates say it could provide an off-ramp for gas utilities operating in states with strong climate laws and decarbonization goals. (Massachusetts鈥� other major gas utility, National Grid, is piloting a in Lowell.)
That鈥檚 not to say that Eversource is abandoning its natural gas business. The company is for a controversial pipeline expansion project in Springfield, and in The Boston Globe revealed how the utility quietly helped expand gas service to the town of Douglas.
鈥淲e remain committed to this unprecedented transition to a clean energy future while still providing safe, reliable natural gas service to our approximately 890,000 customers who rely on it daily in Massachusetts and 黑料吃瓜网,鈥� McKinnon said.
Like many gas utilities, Eversource has also championed mixing biogas 鈥� methane that comes from landfills, animal manure or sewage treatment plants 鈥� and hydrogen into the natural gas pipeline supply. While the company has said these are credible ways to reduce emissions and maintain the pipeline infrastructure, critics say these plans are expensive, unrealistic and unlikely to yield huge emissions reductions.
鈥淚 think at the end of the day, it's good to see Eversource directing their funds to groups that are thinking about non-fossil fuel sources of energy. But Eversource still has a long way to go,鈥� Spatz said. 鈥淟eaving the American Gas Association is just a tiny step forward in a much larger effort that we need to see them engage in.鈥�
Caitlin Peale Sloan, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation in Massachusetts, had a similar takeaway: 鈥淎s with all promises and statements from utilities about climate goals, we are waiting to see real action toward a full transition of Eversource鈥檚 gas system to electrification.鈥�
This story was originally , a partner of the New England News Collaborative. Gregory B. Butler, who is an executive with Eversource Energy, is a member of 黑料吃瓜网's Board of Trustees.
