New report: Gas utilities spent record amount replacing leaky pipes in 2024

Gas utilities in Massachusetts spent a record amount of money in 2024 replacing leaky pipes through the state’s Gas System Enhancement Program, according to a newly released report from regulators, even as the actual miles of replaced pipes remained stubbornly flat since the program’s inception a decade ago.

“We’ve just seen an absolute explosion in the costs of this program, and it appears to be far beyond inflation,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at Acadia Center, an environmental research and advocacy nonprofit.

“If you do business as usual here, you’re going to keep throwing money at a system that is becoming antiquated,” Murray said. “And we’re going to stick an ever-declining ratebase with these costs, and then you are going to end up in an even greater affordability crisis. We’re going to be stuck with stranded assets if we don’t change the way we fundamentally do business here.”

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