Massachusetts AG Secured Settlement with Natural Gas Provider Over Pipeline Explosions

On July 2, 2020, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey secured a $56 million settlement with Columbia Gas, a natural gas utility, over the company’s role in the September 2018 pipeline explosions in Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts. Under the terms of the settlement, Columbia Gas will transfer all of its business operations and assets in Massachusetts to Eversource, which will then “undertake a comprehensive assessment, analysis, and associated restoration” of the gas system “to ensure ... safe and reliable service at a reasonable cost.” Of the $56 million in settlement funds, $15 million will be used to eliminate accumulated natural gas bill debt for more approximately 26,000 low-income customers, and the remaining $41 million will go toward clean energy and energy efficiency programs in the affected communities.

On October 26, 2022, AG Healey’s Office, along with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, announced the first “large-scale energy efficient project” using funds from the settlement. The projects will electrify a building that, once finished, will have 86 “affordable and sustainable” units.