Massachusetts DPU Orders Natural Gas Utilities to Transition Capital into Networked Geothermal

BOSTON, MA — The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued a landmark regulatory order in Docket 20-80-B, directing investor-owned natural gas distribution companies—including National Grid and Eversource—to end promotional customer gas expansion subsidies and reallocate capital into networked geothermal thermal energy networks (TENs).

Transforming Legacy Gas Utilities into Clean Thermal Networks

The DPU order requires each major gas utility to construct at least three neighborhood-scale networked geothermal pilot systems by 2028, piping shared water loops through deep ground boreholes to heat and cool entire municipal blocks without combustion. The order establishes a statutory framework for gas utility workers to transition into union geothermal pipe-fitting and maintenance roles.

DPU commissioners affirmed that the clean energy transition must protect utility workers and ratepayers, transforming gas utilities into sustainable thermal network providers.

Clean Energy Coalitions and Gas Worker Unions Endorse

Gas Workers Union Local 12003 and pipefitter federations praised the order for guaranteeing that geothermal utility networks utilize existing union gas labor.

Environmental justice federations commended the regulatory shift for lowering indoor air pollution in environmental justice neighborhoods in Chelsea and Lowell.

Utility Compliance Filings

Investor-owned gas utilities must submit detailed networked geothermal deployment filings to the DPU by December 1, 2026.