New Report Uncovers Opportunity to Fund Energy Transition – Boston, MA — “Today the Gas Leaks Allies release the first in-depth analysis of a massive Massachusetts program—the Gas System Enhancement Program (GSEP)— to accelerate the replacement of leak-prone gas pipes. The report, GSEP at the Six-Year Mark: A Review of the Massachusetts Gas System Enhancement Program, finds that GSEP is ballooning into a $20 billion mega-project—the size of the Big Dig—that is not on track to meet its goals or timeline. The detailed 60-page report uses utility-provided data to assess the outcomes of the program to date and its likely future costs and financial viability. It also considers the extent to which GSEP is aligned with the Commonwealth’s mandated climate goals. [h/t Jackie Royce)

GSEP is fast becoming the most expensive infrastructure program ever undertaken in the Commonwealth, but it’s administered in a piecemeal fashion without transparency and accountability,” says Dorie Seavey, PhD, author of the report. “Furthermore, the foundational presumption of GSEP—that we’ll continue to use fossil gas for another 60 to 80 years to heat our homes—is no longer valid. GSEP has become disconnected from our new energy reality.”