Every year, gas companies across Massachusetts are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to put new pipes in the ground despite the state’s plan to phase out natural gas by 2050 in the fight against climate change. The work is being paid for with customer money and raises a lot of questions about just what customers are paying for on sky-high utility bills.The multibillion-dollar investment in gas infrastructure also comes as the electric grid needs billions of dollars in expansion work to prepare for the full electrification of the winter heating season in Massachusetts.In Wrentham’s Creek Street neighborhood, it’s been a loud, messy and disruptive year. Streets have been dug up since the spring as Eversource crews replace gas pipes underground and the individual service lines that run to houses.But some question if the work is worth it.After four decades heating his home only with natural gas, Jeff Hall put in an electric heat pump this year, as the state is encouraging homeowners to switch off gas with hefty rebates. He made that switch just as Eversource began doing the gas work right in front of his home.”Even though the line is over 100 years old on Creek Street, if the future doesn’t point toward natural gas, then why are we spending all this money?” Hall asked. “Doesn’t make sense at all to me.”The $3 million project being done in Wrentham is part of a state program called GSEP, which stands for Gas System Enhancement Plan. State lawmakers created it 10 years ago to speed up the replacement of old, leak-prone pipes — like the nearly century-old bare steel pipes Eversource said its crews are pulling out of the ground in Wrentham. Company officials say those pipes can become so corroded that eventually the natural gas is able to leak right through the exterior lining of the pipe.GSEP incentivizes the state’s gas companies to do this work more quickly by letting them pass the cost directly to customers right away. It makes up a growing part of those rising gas delivery fees, and is now the second biggest state program customers pay for after Mass Save. GSEP spending hit $901 million in 2025, growing 300% in the 10 years since it began.”Are projects like this making this transition off gas just more expensive?” reporter Ben Simmoneau asked Eversource President of Gas Distribution Kevin Kelley.”I don’t think so,” he said. “I look at it and say, ‘What value am I bringing to my customers?’ When I look at an old pipe like that, and I look at the risk of it.”Removing leaky pipes has cut down on the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount of lost gas. But the cost to replace pipes has exploded. In 2015, the statewide average replacement cost was $1.32 million per mile of pipe. This year, National Grid — the state’s largest gas company with the largest GSEP plan — says its average cost is $3.3 million. And in 2026, National Grid says that will balloon another 41% to $4.66 million. That year-over-year increase comes as inflation has hovered around 3%.The new pipes Eversource is putting in the ground in Wrentham are plastic, designed to last more than another century. Yet Massachusetts’ goal is to phase out gas by 2050, just 25 years away.”That transition is happening,” Kelley said. “That is several decades out. Until that happens, we have to make sure that we continue to deliver a safe and reliable service.”But some think this spending should be wound down as soon as possible.”It doesn’t make sense. We’re not going to be using gas for a hundred years,” said Priya Gandbhir, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston who served on a state panel to recommend changes to GSEP.”We need the gas system to be safe while we make the energy transition. And anything beyond that means customers are paying for infrastructure that they’re not using,” she said. “Nobody wants to pay for things they’re not using. And nobody should have to pay for things they’re not using.”The state Department of Public Utilities adopted some of the changes from that GSEP report this year, including lowering the cap on gas company spending and pushing the utilities to focus on cheaper leak repair instead of pipe replacement. Repair is just a tiny fraction: $13 million of the $811 million Eversource and National Grid combined planned to spend next year.Lowering the cap on gas company spending has pushed total project costs down, from $901 million in 2025 to a proposed $846 million in 2026. But Gandbhir said DPU needs more power to reject projects outright, especially because the electric grid needs billions of dollars in upgrades as more people — like Jeff Hall in Wrentham — switch to electric heat.”Gas companies are continuing to sink customer money into a pipeline system that the state does not intend to use,” Gandbhir said.National Grid declined an opportunity for an on-camera interview about this topic, including the company’s rapidly rising construction costs. In a statement, a company spokesman did not specifically address that point but said their work “reflects the complexity of replacing leak-prone pipes in dense urban areas like Boston, where we safely operate a natural gas system that includes some of the oldest infrastructure in the country. We are focused on delivering value for customers by restructuring contracts, piloting innovative methods, and addressing the highest-risk pipe segments to prioritize safety, reliability, and affordability.”
Every year, gas companies across Massachusetts are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to put new pipes in the ground despite the state’s plan to phase out natural gas by 2050 in the fight against climate change. The work is being paid for with customer money and raises a lot of questions about just what customers are paying for on sky-high utility bills.
The multibillion-dollar investment in gas infrastructure also comes as the electric grid needs billions of dollars in expansion work to prepare for the full electrification of the winter heating season in Massachusetts.
In Wrentham’s Creek Street neighborhood, it’s been a loud, messy and disruptive year. Streets have been dug up since the spring as Eversource crews replace gas pipes underground and the individual service lines that run to houses.
But some question if the work is worth it.
After four decades heating his home only with natural gas, Jeff Hall put in an electric heat pump this year, as the state is encouraging homeowners to switch off gas with hefty rebates. He made that switch just as Eversource began doing the gas work right in front of his home.
“Even though the [gas] line is over 100 years old on Creek Street, if the future doesn’t point toward natural gas, then why are we spending all this money?” Hall asked. “Doesn’t make sense at all to me.”
The $3 million project being done in Wrentham is part of a state program called GSEP, which stands for Gas System Enhancement Plan. State lawmakers created it 10 years ago to speed up the replacement of old, leak-prone pipes — like the nearly century-old bare steel pipes Eversource said its crews are pulling out of the ground in Wrentham. Company officials say those pipes can become so corroded that eventually the natural gas is able to leak right through the exterior lining of the pipe.
GSEP incentivizes the state’s gas companies to do this work more quickly by letting them pass the cost directly to customers right away. It makes up a growing part of those rising gas delivery fees, and is now the second biggest state program customers pay for after Mass Save. GSEP spending hit $901 million in 2025, growing 300% in the 10 years since it began.
“Are projects like this making this transition off gas just more expensive?” reporter Ben Simmoneau asked Eversource President of Gas Distribution Kevin Kelley.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I look at it and say, ‘What value am I bringing to my customers?’ When I look at an old pipe like that, and I look at the risk of it.”
Removing leaky pipes has cut down on the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount of lost gas. But the cost to replace pipes has exploded. In 2015, the statewide average replacement cost was $1.32 million per mile of pipe. This year, National Grid — the state’s largest gas company with the largest GSEP plan — says its average cost is $3.3 million. And in 2026, National Grid says that will balloon another 41% to $4.66 million. That year-over-year increase comes as inflation has hovered around 3%.
The new pipes Eversource is putting in the ground in Wrentham are plastic, designed to last more than another century. Yet Massachusetts’ goal is to phase out gas by 2050, just 25 years away.
“That transition is happening,” Kelley said. “That is several decades out. Until that happens, we have to make sure that we continue to deliver a safe and reliable service.”
But some think this spending should be wound down as soon as possible.
“It doesn’t make sense. We’re not going to be using gas for a hundred years,” said Priya Gandbhir, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston who served on a state panel to recommend changes to GSEP.
“We need the gas system to be safe while we make the energy transition. And anything beyond that means customers are paying for infrastructure that they’re not using,” she said. “Nobody wants to pay for things they’re not using. And nobody should have to pay for things they’re not using.”
The state Department of Public Utilities adopted some of the changes from that GSEP report this year, including lowering the cap on gas company spending and pushing the utilities to focus on cheaper leak repair instead of pipe replacement. Repair is just a tiny fraction: $13 million of the $811 million Eversource and National Grid combined planned to spend next year.
Lowering the cap on gas company spending has pushed total project costs down, from $901 million in 2025 to a proposed $846 million in 2026. But Gandbhir said DPU needs more power to reject projects outright, especially because the electric grid needs billions of dollars in upgrades as more people — like Jeff Hall in Wrentham — switch to electric heat.
“Gas companies are continuing to sink customer money into a pipeline system that the state does not intend to use,” Gandbhir said.
National Grid declined an opportunity for an on-camera interview about this topic, including the company’s rapidly rising construction costs. In a statement, a company spokesman did not specifically address that point but said their work “reflects the complexity of replacing leak-prone pipes in dense urban areas like Boston, where we safely operate a natural gas system that includes some of the oldest infrastructure in the country. We are focused on delivering value for customers by restructuring contracts, piloting innovative methods, and addressing the highest-risk pipe segments to prioritize safety, reliability, and affordability.”