The Healey administration remains a staunch opponent of natural gas as a new poll indicates Bay Staters prefer the energy source over renewables, and as the feds aim to revive a pipeline project that could lower utility costs by $1 billion. [emphasis, links added]
Gov. Maura Healey [Massachusetts-D], a champion of renewable energy, especially wind, has felt pressure over the past few months as utility costs soared due to a combination of a bitterly cold winter and the state’s decarbonization agenda.
The governor has responded, rolling out a plan she’s said will eventually cut billions from taxpayer bills and ordering the state DPU to demand utility companies reduce costs by at least 5% for the remainder of the heating season.
The Department of Public Utilities approved rate hikes of upwards of 30% for the state’s primary gas companies, Eversource and Natural Grid, last fall.
As Bay Staters grapple with the sky-high bills, a new poll from nonpartisan watchdog Fiscal Alliance Foundation shows that likely voters view an expansion of natural gas pipelines more favorably than a full commitment to renewables.
Roughly 47% of the 800 likely voters who participated in the poll earlier this month supported the construction of new pipelines into the state, while 37% preferred a complete push to renewables.
Of the respondents, 48.2% were Independent, 40.6% Democrat and 11.1% Republican.
Healey critics have blamed the state Legislature’s mandate that the Bay State transition to renewable energy for the winter’s high utility costs, accusing the governor of “killing” two gas pipeline projects as attorney general within the past decade.
“Obviously, Gov. Healey as AG worked really hard to stop the pipelines — she bragged about it on the campaign trail,” Fiscal Alliance Executive Director Paul Diego Craney said in a briefing on Friday. “It seems like that’s kind of coming back to haunt her.”
Read rest at Boston Herald
