SATURDAY, APRIL 9
SPRINGFIELD, MA
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Springfield Climate Justice Coalition's Rally to stop the Eversource pipeline in
Springfield & Longmeadow
Saturday, April 9
1:00-2:30 pm
Federal Courthouse Building
300 State Street
Springfield, MA
Springfield community is asking for all of our support to say no to this costly and unnecessary project.
As the event organizers have said:
"The community has made it clear: We don't want new fossil fuel infrastructure! We want a transition to healthy, clean renewable energy that doesn't harm our planet and our communities. Springfield already suffers from high pollution rates, contributing to communities here having some of the highest rates of respiratory illnesses like asthma in the country. More fossil fuels will only make this worse."
_____________________________________________________
THURSDAY, APRIL 14 • ONLINE • 7:00 PM
Fix The Grid - FERC Comment Party
A hands-on workshop to oppose ISO-New England's proposed changes
On Thursday April 14th at 7pm, we invite you to join the Fix the Grid Campaign for a Comment Party to submit comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) opposing recent changes that our regional grid operator, ISO-New England (ISO-NE), has proposed which would delay our State’s transition to clean energy by 2-years.
Our regional energy grid operator, ISO-NE, is determined to keep us hooked on polluting fossil fuels. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the governing body that has authority over ISO-NE, and FERC currently has TWO open proceedings that will have huge implications on our energy system for years to come. The public comment period for both of these issues is open now – it is critical that FERC hear from as many people as possible so that they use their power to protect our communities and our future.
________________________________________________________
“Future of Gas” put under legislative scrutiny
MA State Senator Cindy Creem of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change held a
hearing on the DPU proceeding that’s come to be known as the
“Future of Gas” proceeding (DPU20-80). Originally requested by the Attorney General’s office, utility companies put together with consultants put the report together as part of a Department of Public Utilities exploration of how natural gas fits into Massachusetts’ energy future and whether the resource might help or hinder the state’s emissions reduction efforts.
Despite a large volume of input from climate, environmental justice and consumer advocates during a series of stakeholder meetings, the plan drafted up by the utilities only included ways to keep gas operations going, using a host of non-viable solutions such as scare, expensive and still polluting biogas and synthetic gas; dangerous, unproven and not technically feasible hydrogen blending (which, at best, could only displace about 20% of the methane gas in the system, leaving the other 80% or more to be business as usual).
The hearing is a very revealing look at the flaws in the whole process of letting the utilities decide their future path, and reveals ways in which the report appears to have falsified accounting of costs, emissions and impacts.
Natural gas investments fuel climate concerns
Colin A. Young, State House News Service, via WWLP
April 4, 2022
Activists have been unhappy with the Future of Gas process since the DPU allowed the gas utilities to hire their own consultants to prepare the report and Creem said Monday that the process does not allow climate organizations to challenge the assumptions used in the study. She said the DPU process “will not truly be complete or fair” unless DPU explicitly considers the interplay with the GSEP program. “The Legislature may have to intervene to ensure that GSEP is considered and to ensure that there was an opportunity to scrutinize the gas companies’ proposals before the commonwealth chooses which future to pursue,” she said. “The decisions about our path to net-zero is far too important to be rushed or to be made behind closed doors.”
In a very hopeful development, the Senate has issued its omnibus energy bill on April 7th. Among many other positive aspects of there bill, there is also a proposal to block the DPU from approving any of the “Future of Gas” plans submitted under DPU20-80 until a thorough analysis is conducted by the legislature.
Stay tuned …
Senate unveils sweeping climate bill
By Sabrina Shankman, Boston Globe Staff
April 7, 2022
The state Senate on Thursday unveiled a sweeping climate bill that would pour money into development of clean energy, set mandates for government agencies, and allow some cities and towns to ban gas in new construction.
Unlike the broad strokes of past climate legislation that focused on setting strict targets for slashing emissions, Thursday’s proposal delves into granular details of state programs and agencies perceived as acting too slow on the climate.
The bill also addresses the state’s Future of Gas proceeding, in which it is investigating the phase-out of natural gas. The process has been criticized by legislators and clean energy advocates for appearing to favor the natural gas industry and excluding equal participation from other parties. The new bill would require that interested parties be allowed to participate fully, and would allow the next governor to oversee the completion of the process.
______________________________________________________
Public Meetings on the Commission on Clean Heat
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) invites you to attend public meetings focused on the work of the Commission on Clean Heat and related policies for building decarbonization. The meetings will be virtual and include a short presentation, followed by a period for public comment. We are holding two sessions on each date with the same presentation, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. We encourage people to pre-register for the meetings by clicking on the links for each respective meeting times below. During registration you can also indicate if you wish to provide comments during the meeting, which is helpful for planning purposes.
*Note: This is a separate process from the DPU20-80 docket requiring the study from the gas utilities. As has become increasingly common, there are separate processes going on with separate regulatory agencies that are not coordinated, even though they address the same issues.
Remaining Commission on Clean Heat public meeting:
Public Meeting #3:
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Option 1: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Option 2: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Links to the meetings will also be published on the Commission on Clean Heat website one business day prior to each meeting.
For more information or to request reasonable accommodations and/or language services, please email
GWSA@mass.gov.