GOP guv candidates slam Healey admin plan to charge new gas customers for full hook-up costs
The two Republican candidates for governor say an emerging Healey administration plan to make new gas customers pay the full share of service hook-ups, arguing the move would drive up costs and hurt the state's economy.
The comments from GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy came in response to news Thursday that state utility regulators are considering banning gas utilities from charging existing customers from the cost of adding new ones.
The move, first reported by CommonWealth Beacon , is part of a broader effort to move the state away from its reliance on fossil fuels.
Utility regulators are currently reviewing climate plans that the state's gas carriers, such as National Grid, submitted to the state in April.
The state Department of Public Utilities issued an order last week requiring new gas customers to eat the entire upfront cost of connecting to the system, unless they have no alternative to natural gas, the online news outlet reported.
In a statement, one of those GOP gubernatorial hopefuls, Mike Kennealy, said the move will "do nothing to advance our energy reliability, and will only serve to drastically increase costs for new customers."
"This is yet another example of Healey's climate agenda hurting the broader economy. Anyone with common sense — or experience in housing or commercial development — knows it is already extremely costly to build in Massachusetts," Kennealy, who served as former Gov. Charlie Baker's top housing and economic development official, said.
"Adding yet another layer of expense will undoubtedly inhibit housing production, drive up costs for future homeowners, renters, and the business community, and make our housing crisis even worse," he said.
GOP gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve, who helmed the MBTA for Baker, was similarly critical, arguing the plan would "cause ratepayers even more pain at the plug by making it more costly to access affordable natural gas."
"The Healey administration's proposal is designed to coerce consumers into paying for higher-cost electricity to advance an ideological agenda that Massachusetts simply can't afford," he said. "People and businesses are fleeing the state because of the high cost of living, and our top priority must be to address this affordability crisis that is pushing working-class families and small businesses to the brink."
Electric customers statewide rebelled last winter after they were hit by skyrocketing energy bills . Two of the state's giants, National Grid and Eversource, came in for particular scrutiny.
In a letter to utility regulators , Eversource officials urged the state not to change course.
"Customer energy costs in the Commonwealth are among the highest in the country, partially as a result of the wide array of state-mandated initiatives, despite longstanding efforts to ensure energy affordability through a range of customer-focused affordability programs," the company wrote in its April 3 letter to the DPU.
"As a result, the evolving energy transition in Massachusetts is necessarily intertwined with the affordability implications and the department's exploration of policy changes needs to take into account that, from the consumer's perspective, the singular focus is to obtain safe, reliable and affordable service and, where options are few, outcomes that are contradictory to the larger goals will be prevalent if the financial incentives for that customer work against the Department's policy objectives," the company wrote.
In a statement, the DPU told CommonWealth Beacon that the agency's order "establishes an intention to move away from line extension allowances for new gas hookups … to promote more affordable options for ratepayers."
"Line extension policies, along with other elements of the plans submitted by the gas companies, will be reviewed by the DPU over the next several months," the spokesperson said.
More on Politics
Read the original article on MassLive .
