AG Campbell: Mass. gas companies need to overhaul their climate plans — or face penalties

As Massachusetts hits a climate crossroads, the state’s top law enforcement official is warning that the gas companies are not on track to meet ambitious climate commitments — and urged regulators to impose penalties if the companies don’t step up their efforts to transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell and her team, along with leading environmental advocacy groups and the Healey administration’s Department of Energy Resources in separate briefs, admonished the utilities in new filings before the Department of Public Utilities, telling the regulators that the state’s five gas companies turned in “completely inadequate” climate compliance plans last year.

“If we can’t get the obligation to serve right,” Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the environmental nonprofit Acadia Center, said in an interview, “we’ve lost the whole game on achieving a managed, timely, and cost-effective gas transition.”

To read the full article from Commonwealth Beacon, click here.