Connecticut suffers from some of the highest electricity rates in the country, and these challenges need to be addressed urgently. But the conversation in the state about how to combat the growing cost of energy for households and businesses has so far been incomplete, focusing on only one half of the equation.

Left entirely undiscussed: the gas utility sector and looming crisis of affordable heat.

Natural gas pipelines in Connecticut are aging and leaky, and the cost of the gas they transport is subject to extreme price spikes. Meanwhile, households and businesses are moving away from the direct use of gas, either for cost, comfort, climate, health, or safety reasons. The state’s natural gas utilities risk diminishing customer enrollment and demand per customer, spread over the same – or growing – infrastructure costs. This lethal confluence of trends is bound to send gas bills skyrocketing. Called the “gas utility death spiral,” this process will hit vulnerable communities (e.g. renters, low-income residents, fixed-income seniors) the hardest.  

Customers who can upgrade their homes with the most energy efficient insulation, duct work, windows and doors, install high-performing efficient electric appliances and distributed resources like rooftop solar and home storage, and invest in energy management technologies, like smart thermostats paired with household devices that can maximize comfort and minimize costs, can achieve an unprecedented level of control over their monthly utility bills.  

For all the folks who cannot afford to upgrade to a clean, affordable, all-electric home on their own, early state action to contain long-term gas system costs is absolutely essential. That’s why states across the country are upping their oversight of for-profit gas utilities. These efforts have included new gas infrastructure planning processes that align spending with state energy goals, utility “clean heat” plans to achieve state emissions reduction targets, pilots to test new business models for gas utilities, like thermal energy networks, and studies of financial and regulatory tools, like non-pipeline alternatives and gas demand response programs. Using any one of these approaches, Connecticut state leaders have the ability to minimize customer costs and risks throughout this moment of rapid transition.  

Other northeast neighbors are similarly reliant on gas for heating, and they are already exploring better options. In late 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities directed the gas utilities to begin reviewing their policies and practices related to new service connections to assess if new gas lines contradict Massachusetts’ policy and economic interests. And earlier this summer, the New York Public Service Commission adopted rules for utility thermal energy networks to create a new market for alternatives to gas, and opened a proceeding to create a framework to develop lower-cost and lower-risk non-pipeline alternative projects.