‘Bought and sold’: that troublesome UMass Lowell hydrogen study

The study even suggests that to expedite the introduction of hydrogen, the Gas System Enhancement Program “timeline could be accelerated” since several thousand miles of mains still await replacement with hydrogen-compatible plastic pipe.But nowhere has the Legislature approved the GSEP’s “alternative fuel” purpose. The recent Future of Gas investigation declined to explicitly consider the program’s substantial opportunity costs. And the gas companies’ 2023 GSEP plans, filed last month with the Department of Public Utilities, make no mention of this new use. These plans call for about $800 million of ratepayer-obligated spending in 2023 alone. Portentously for Boston, National Grid’s plan assumes a $3.4 million-per-mile replacement cost — up 16 percent from 2022 — plus the company requests another five years (until 2044) to finish its plan.Get Today in…

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