Why It Matters
Ten Massachusetts communities have adopted ordinances committing to eliminate fossil fuel use, yet natural gas utilities have simultaneously invested $100 million in pipeline infrastructure within nine of those same towns since the pledges took effect in 2024. The tension reveals a fundamental conflict: state climate policy encouraging fuel alternatives and local ambition to decarbonize are colliding with utility incentive structures and legal service obligations that favor natural gas expansion.
What Happened
Beginning in 2024, ten Massachusetts communities formally pledged to achieve fossil fuel independence through local ordinances. At the same time, gas utilities have poured substantial resources into expanding natural gas distribution networks in nine of those ten communities, creating what amounts to infrastructure investment that runs counter to the communities’ stated climate goals.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, recognizing this misalignment, required utilities in 2023 to evaluate non-pipeline alternatives—such as electrification and geothermal heating—before approving new gas infrastructure projects. Despite this directive, when six gas companies evaluated 500 potential alternative projects for 2026, only 31 were proposed in the ten fossil fuel-free communities. Gas companies subsequently determined that none of those 31 projects were economically viable to pursue.
Utilities argue they face legal constraints. Under Massachusetts law, gas companies are obligated to serve all customers requesting natural gas service, a requirement that utilities say limits their ability to redirect capital toward electrification and other non-gas heating solutions in these communities.
By the Numbers
10 — Massachusetts communities that pledged to go fossil fuel free starting in 2024
$100 million — amount utilities spent on natural gas infrastructure in nine of the ten communities since fossil fuel-free ordinances took effect
31 — non-pipeline alternative projects gas companies proposed in the ten fossil fuel-free communities out of 500 total projects considered for 2026
0 — projects in those communities that gas utilities deemed economically viable to implement
85 percent — Massachusetts’s target for statewide pollution reduction by 2050, relative to 1990 levels
Zoom Out
Massachusetts has anchored its climate strategy in long-term decarbonization targets and utility regulatory reform. The state enacted the Gas System Enhancement Plan (GSEP) in 2014, which created financial incentives for utilities to identify and repair gas pipeline leaks. More recently, the 2023 Department of Public Utilities directive pushed the regulatory framework further by explicitly requiring consideration of non-gas heating alternatives.
The gap between policy intent and utility behavior mirrors broader tensions in state-level climate policy. Regulators have sought to align utility business models with carbon reduction goals, yet the fundamental service obligation—utilities must supply gas to customers who request it—remains a structural obstacle. Similar conflicts are playing out across northeastern and midwestern states attempting to phase out fossil fuel heating while maintaining universal utility service commitments.
What’s Next
The Department of Public Utilities’ requirement to evaluate alternatives provides a regulatory avenue for further action, but implementation will depend on whether officials choose to tighten standards for project approval or revise the service obligation framework. The ten fossil fuel-free communities may press the state to impose stronger constraints on utility spending in their jurisdictions, or pursue more aggressive local enforcement mechanisms. Massachusetts’s broader 2050 pollution reduction target makes the resolution of this conflict consequential to the state’s ability to meet its climate commitments.