This winter, energy affordability approached a crisis-level in Connecticut. Electricity rates have risen by over 30% over the last decade, and heating bill hikes are headed in the same direction.

Just last fall, Yankee Gas requested bill hikes of 43%, an increase of more than $45 per month.

Local leaders, state officials, and residents alike have sounded the alarm on rising energy costs. The state legislature has responded, introducing a handful of bills this session aimed at tackling the problem with a broad range of remedies. So far, the majority have focused on only one half of the equation – electricity bills.

We also desperately need to bring down costs for those who heat with natural gas. One idea in the spotlight uses an old and misunderstood playbook: expand Connecticut’s access to natural gas supply.

This concept has elicited a range of reactions, but let’s consider it in earnest for a moment. Natural gas heats over a third of Connecticut homes. Couldn’t additional gas bring relief on winter bills?

Let’s start by looking at the gas supply.

In recent years, we’ve seen several gas price spikes from extreme weather events like Winter Storm Uri, geopolitical events, and other supply constraints. Gas prices are also historically volatile, making it difficult for households to plan for utility costs. Now, the Energy Information Administration is projecting that the cost of gas this upcoming fall will be almost double the cost from 2024.

Expanding reliance on gas supply only locks Connecticut into an unpredictable and expensive energy future. There’s no way out of this problem – New England doesn’t have any gas reserves or production – Connecticut relies on interstate pipelines to import fuel from other regions. It turns out we can’t simply open the spigot.

Beyond the gas itself, we need pipelines to transport it safely.

This means repairing and likely replacing aging gas infrastructure and expanding gas pipeline networks. That’s an expensive undertaking, and a slow one, especially given that Connecticut ranks No. 4 in the country for miles of old pipe needing attention.

According to 2023 filings, the Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation (CNG) and the Southern Connecticut Gas Company (SCG) cost-per-mile to replace gas mains were $1.4 million to $2.9 million and $1.5 million to $1.9 million, respectively.

Replacement costs are soaring across the country, especially in urban areas. New York gas utilities paid over $3 million per mile and Massachusetts utilities paid up to $6M for pipe replacements in some residential Boston neighborhoods.

Because these costs are up everywhere, and because the headwinds facing the industry are larger than simply construction cost inflation, gas utility planning and cost-containment is formally being reviewed in various states.

New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon and Illinois are all asking for insights into these costs increases, and assessing how to meaningfully combat them, rather than pre-supposing that the solution is to spend billions of additional ratepayer dollars in the same way that we always have.

A necessary first step to getting a solution for Connecticut is to open a proceeding at the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to examine the long-term costs of the gas system, its interdependencies with the electric system, potential lower-cost solutions to bring down bills, and what other states are doing to combat this same problem. An uncontested docket at PURA comes at no cost to ratepayers.

This proceeding will gather critical information on today’s gas infrastructure and supply costs and bring transparency into the assumptions the utilities are making about the future. With this information in hand, legislators and utility regulators will be able to make better decisions to combat this growing heating affordability crisis.

To plan for an affordable energy future, we need to look forward, not backward. Legislators should issue a practical directive to PURA to open a gas system study as a first step to ensure that Connecticut homes get the most cost-effective and reliable energy solutions.