On June 18, 2025, the Public Facilities Committee of the Newton City Council heard a proposal from National Grid and Eversource to collaborate with the City to work together to develop plans to eliminate gas pipes in Newton streets by electrifying all gas uses in each building. The proposal was well received by the Councilors including the suggestion that participants would include city residents in addition to city officials. (A video recording of the meeting is at this link; the specific proposal can be found around the 1 hour 49 minute mark.) National Grid emphasized that this would be its first such collaboration in Massachusetts.
According to Peter Barrer, a member of the Newton Gas Pipes Team, the speed of the collaboration is essential to its success because National Grid continues to spend about $500,000,000 a year installing new replacement gas pipes throughout its service territory wherever streets are not yet electrified. Ultimately gas customers pay for these installations whose costs are covered in monthly bills. Rapid street electrification and avoiding installing gas pipes will reduce customer bills. The first opportunity to demonstrate the Newton collaboration’s capacity to move quickly will be National Grid’s filing for gas pipe plans in 2026, which is due on October 31.
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