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…