25): Two New England energy companies in surprising alliance with fossil fuel lobby, undercutting climate targets

Boston Globe: Two New England energy companies in surprising alliance with fossil fuel lobby, undercutting climate targets
Sabrina Shankman, 3/16/25

“Last year, two major energy companies working in Massachusetts joined the ranks of an innocuous sounding group: the Consumer Energy Alliance. The organization calls itself “the voice of the energy consumer,” while espousing the “all-of-the-above” approach to energy — oil, natural gas, wind, and solar,” the Boston Globe reports. “But, according to financial documents, the alliance was formed and is operated by a fossil fuel lobbying group based in Houston. Its stated purpose includes “the promotion and defense of natural gas.”

Across the country, the alliance has fought the kinds of climate policies that are taking root in Massachusetts. And in some cases, it has done so by claiming that those policies harm people of color — a claim that overlooks studies showing how fossil fuel emissions disproportionately harm those very groups. In Massachusetts, a state that’s set aggressive climate targets, cooperation and buy-in from utilities is a pillar of how the state plans to get there. That makes it “incredibly troubling” that both Eversource, one of the state’s largest gas and electric utilities, and Avangrid, offshore wind developer and the parent company of Berkshire Gas, became members of the alliance last year, Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for the advocacy group the Acadia Center, told the Globe.

In response to questions from the Globe, both New England utilities defended their decision to join the alliance. They also noted that the costs for their membership are being covered by shareholders — not ratepayers. Neither company would disclose how much they pay the alliance as members…”