The Healey administration remains a staunch opponent of natural gas as a new poll indicates Bay Staters prefer the energy source over renewables, and as the feds aim to revive a pipeline project that could lower utility costs by $1 billion.

Gov. Maura Healey, a champion of renewable energy, especially wind, has felt pressure over the past few months as utility costs soared due to a combination of a bitterly cold winter and the state’s decarbonization agenda.

The governor has responded, rolling out a plan she’s said will eventually cut billions from taxpayer bills and ordering the state DPU to demand utility companies reduce costs by at least 5% for the remainder of the heating season.

The Department of Public Utilities approved rate hikes of upwards of 30% for the state’s primary gas companies, Eversource and Natural Grid, last fall.

As Bay Staters grapple with the sky-high bills, a new poll from nonpartisan watchdog Fiscal Alliance Foundation shows that likely voters view an expansion of natural gas pipelines more favorably than a full commitment to renewables.

Roughly 47% of the 800 likely voters who participated in the poll earlier this month supported the construction of new pipelines into the state, while 37% preferred a complete push to renewables.

Of the respondents, 48.2% were Independent, 40.6% Democrat and 11.1% Republican.

Healey critics have blamed the state Legislature’s mandate that the Bay State transition to renewable energy for the winter’s high utility costs, accusing the governor of “killing” two gas pipeline projects as attorney general within the past decade.

“Obviously, Gov. Healey as AG worked really hard to stop the pipelines — she bragged about it on the campaign trail,” Fiscal Alliance Executive Director Paul Diego Craney said in a briefing on Friday. “It seems like that’s kind of coming back to haunt her.”

After announcing that her administration will deliver a $50 utility bill credit in April to customers of Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil, Healey said that “people say a lot of things that are just not true” about her actions around pipeline development.

“Back when I was attorney general my job was to protect ratepayers whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner,” Healey said at an event last Monday.

A study that Healey’s office authorized in 2015 found that Massachusetts didn’t need a new natural gas pipeline as investing more in energy efficiency would ensure the electric grid’s reliability through 2030. Months later, energy giant Kinder Morgan Inc. backed out of a $3.3 billion natural gas pipeline proposed through Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

The plan Healey announced last week also orders the DPU to expand automatic discounted rate enrollment for low-income families and implement tiered discounted rates, among other duties.

According to the governor, her plan will save ratepayers $220 million immediately and $5.8 billion over five years.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper highlighted how Massachusetts provides a “significant amount of natural gas to the entire region” through a ship at a liquefied natural gas facility in Everett.

“The issue that we have in New England is that for a few days of the year, prices are high maybe seven days,” Tepper said. “You don’t build a gigantic pipeline for seven days a year.”

Tepper’s comment has received sharp criticism on social media.

“There is no group of people more out of touch with reality than the individuals in the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Just a slap in the face to Massachusetts residents,” the Massachusetts GOP wrote in an X post on Friday. “With your help, the gaslighting will stop in 2026!”

State Rep. Marc Lombardo, a Billerica Republican, added Saturday: “This is why energy prices are through the roof. (Gov.) Healey and her Energy secretary are completely detached from reality! They think YOU are stupid.”

In a statement to the Herald last month, a governor’s spokesperson highlighted how Healey as AG, “successfully argued that the people of Massachusetts should not be footing the bill for two new natural gas pipelines.”

“Once the companies learned that they were going to have to pay for the pipelines without passing the costs onto consumers, they withdrew their proposal,” the spokesperson said.

Delivery charges spiking bills through the roof over the winter have been tied to increased funding for state environmental initiatives including Mass Save, a program that supports Massachusetts’ “statutorily-required greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.”

The Trump administration is looking to revive a 124-mile pipeline that would carry gas from Pennsylvania across New York to Albany, where natural gas would enter New England through other pipelines.

Opposition from environmental activists prompted the state of New York to block the project in 2020. President Trump met with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday, discussing the pipeline’s future, according to national reports.

The Hartford Courant has reported that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is backing the project.

Trump posted on Truth Social ahead of his meeting with Hochul that the pipeline could save New England households $2,500 to $5,000 a year. An independent analysis found that the project could cut energy costs by $1 billion.

Healey has voiced alarm over the Trump administration’s tariff spat with Canada and how the president has ordered a memorandum halting the development of new offshore wind, an energy source proven turbulent in Massachusetts.

“We have the Saudi Arabia of wind right off our shores,” Healey said last week, “we have some of it churning already, we’ve got other projects in deployment. That’s going to be a game changer, that’s going to drive down people’s bills for businesses and homeowners.”

“I don’t want to be subject to the wills of Russia and international markets,” the governor added.

Originally Published: March 15, 2025 at 6:04 PM EDT