In Massachusetts, a state that’s set aggressive climate targets, cooperation and buy-in from utilities is a pillar of how the state plans to get there. That makes it “incredibly troubling” that both Eversource, one of the state’s largest gas and electric utilities, and Avangrid, offshore wind developer and the parent company of Berkshire Gas, became members of the alliance last year, said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for the advocacy group the Acadia Center.
In response to questions from the Globe, both New England utilities defended their decision to join the alliance. They also noted that the costs for their membership are being covered by shareholders — not ratepayers. Neither company would disclose how much they pay the alliance as members.
Eversource spokesperson William Hinkle said the company joined through its New Hampshire operating company and that it did so with an eye toward the alliance’s “diversified approach to renewable energy development” including offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine.
At Avangrid, company spokesperson Leo Rosales said the company joined because “we support their efforts to advocate for greater transparency and consumer education on energy bills.” He added that “a membership does not reflect the company’s endorsement of an organization’s entire platform.”
Both companies have been vocal supporters of the clean energy transition in New England and played key roles in guiding new climate-friendly policies. Eversource even made headlines for being the first utility to leave the American Gas Association in 2022. Eversource also became the first utility in the nation to partner with climate advocates to build a neighborhood-scale geothermal project, relying on the steady temperature below ground to heat and cool buildings.
So, the decision to join the Consumer Energy Alliance perhaps illustrates how complicated the business of energy is in the United States, with utilities operating across state lines and adhering to different laws and objectives.
“At a time when we know we need to be transitioning off of fossil fuels as soon as is practicable, these companies have instead opted to join with a group dedicated to frustrating that aim, and indeed directly at odds with some of the positive initiatives that these companies have been advancing in the Northeast” like geothermal networks, offshore wind transmission, and more, Murray said.
The Consumer Energy Alliance was launched in 2006 by HBW Resources, a lobbying group that represents the fossil fuel industry. David Holt, founder and chief executive of the alliance, is also a managing partner of HBW Resources.
The alliance has done some advocacy for offshore wind, including opposing a bill that would have banned development in the Gulf of Maine. However, more often than not, its work appears to be siding with fossil fuels. Some members of the alliance are clean energy groups, but the majority are oil companies, gas utilities, and other firms that profit from fossil fuels, according to a list of its members.
Bryson Hull, a spokesperson for the alliance and vice president of strategic/crisis communications at HBW Resources, said via email that the alliance is proud of the work it has done across the country to “defend Americans’ freedom to choose the energy they want and need,” including supporting wind.
But critics argue that limited efforts to bolster offshore wind are essentially a “fig leaf for Consumer Energy Alliance’s main operation.” The alliance’s support of President Trump’s energy agenda, which includes “decimating the wind industry,” disqualifies the alliance’s attempts to paint itself as a neutral energy lobby, said Itai Vardi, a research and communications manager at the investigative research organization Energy and Policy Institute.
As of 2020, the alliance had roughly 10 ongoing local and state campaigns to improve the optics around natural gas, according to a document obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute, repeatedly resulting in controversy.
In 2023, the group was investigated by the Ohio attorney general’s office after dozens of identical letters it sent in support of fracking for natural gas in a state park turned out to be written by people who said they had not been aware their names were being used. That included an elderly blind woman and a 9-year-old child. (The Consumer Energy Alliance said a contractor was to blame and was cleared).
A recent Washington Post article, meanwhile, revealed that a Maryland group arguing against a climate bill that it said would hurt Black households had been launched and shaped by the alliance.
But here in the Northeast, the group has been largely quiet after an earlier plan to raise the profile of gas appears to have failed.
That plan, presented by the alliance at a gas industry conference in 2019, included highlighting the “extreme costs of winter home heating” and continuing its “Power On New England” campaign touting the importance of natural gas infrastructure.
Despite those efforts, Massachusetts went on to pass climate bills to move past fossil fuels, and many New England states did as well.
Some local supporters of clean energy worry that with Trump back in the White House, the alliance may see an opening to again try to take aim at New England’s climate policies. And having support from two local utilities adds wind to its sails.
Avangrid’s involvement with the alliance also goes deeper than just membership — Avangrid chief executive Pedro Azagra also joined the board of the National Hispanic Energy Council, which was formed with support from the alliance. The National Hispanic Energy Council has vocally opposed California’s electric vehicle requirements and the Biden administration’s pause on liquid natural gas exports.
Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, said she hopes that, as members, Eversource and Avangrid will “use their power to moderate and improve” the Consumer Energy Alliance platform.
If not, she said, “joining creates a credibility problem.”
Sabrina Shankman can be reached at sabrina.shankman@globe.com.