States with ambitious climate goals need to revamp their regulations to support geothermal and low-carbon hydrogen projects to meet their targets, said Nikki Bruno, director of clean technologies at Eversource Energy.

In Massachusetts, for example, “the Future of Gas proceeding will net out some good frameworks that we can provide to our regulators to say, ‘here’s how we want to pivot with the targets that are set out,’” Bruno said at the New England Energy Conference and Exposition last month.

The Department of Public Utilities opened the gas proceeding last fall and directed the state’s local gas distribution companies to determine which pathways to a net-zero industry are feasible, such as low- to no-carbon hydrogen or geothermal energy.

Reports from the distribution companies are due in March 2022.

“Policy does go hand in hand with the technology,” Bruno said. In Massachusetts, there is no regulatory framework for geothermal energy. The state’s comprehensive climate bill signed into law in March was the first piece of legislation that paved the way for gas companies to take on renewable energy projects, such as solar, and investigate options such as geothermal, she said.

Geothermal energy and hydrogen fuel technologies are not new, but widespread use of them is uncharted territory for utilities in the highly developed regions of the Northeast. State energy regulators can support decarbonization by overseeing the creation of a shared pipeline network between service areas, Bruno said.

“Everything underground is just as tight as the real estate above ground,” she said. “Patience and collaboration going forward is needed; these are complex problems that are not going to be solved overnight.”  

Eversource is planning a geothermal energy pilot that would include the installation of more than 100 ground source heat pumps in a mixture of low- and middle-income communities, homes and businesses, depending on the final location of the project.

Policy makers who pursue the “singular pathway of electrification to achieve emissions reduction objectives and energy system resilience actually hinder their ability to succeed,” Rick Murphy, managing director of energy markets at the American Gas Association, said.

“The question, or the opportunity as we see it, is how can we leverage the nation’s vast gas pipeline network — 2.6 million miles to be exact — to deliver lower-carbon energy sources like renewable natural gas and hydrogen,” Murphy said.

More Pipelines 

Technologies like hydrogen and geothermal, however, are realistically “a little ways out,” said Caitlin Tessin, director of market innovation with gas transmission company Enbridge.

Renewable natural gas is in the “earliest phase of opportunity,” Tessin said during the conference. Created by capturing methane emissions from organic waste, landfills or wastewater treatment plants, renewable natural gas can use existing gas infrastructure to heat homes and reduce emissions in the process.

Enbridge broke ground last year on a $42 million renewable natural gas plant in Ontario, Canada, that is expected to generate enough energy to heat 8,750 homes and reduce GHG by 48,000 tons every year, according to the company. It also recently received approval to blend hydrogen into a test portion of its gas network in Ontario.

There are opportunities for expansion along existing pipeline rights-of-way to optimize existing infrastructure in the Northeast to meet demand, Tessin said.

But new pipeline expansion does not look promising.

There is little chance that there will be any new pipeline installations in New England anytime soon, John Rudiak, senior director of gas supply for gas utility subsidiaries at Avangrid, said during the conference.

“In terms of possible small-scale expansions of existing systems, if they’re needed to meet customer demand, I can see them going into effect,” he said.