Dear Editor:

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Picture this: aging pipelines beneath the streets of a city spring leaks and spew toxic gas into the air, poisoning the environment, killing plants, and making it hard to breathe. Now imagine that the residents of that city are stuck with the bill for the gas lost in the pipeline leak! Is this some dystopian future? No – this is actually happening, today, in Somerville and across the Commonwealth.

There are more than 16,000 leaks in natural gas pipelines in Massachusetts, including over 200 in Somerville alone. Gas companies are responsible for the repair and replacement of these pipelines but have no economic incentive to do so as they can just transfer the costs to residents. H.2683, a bill proposed this year by our own Representative Christine Barber, would prohibit gas companies from charging consumers for lost or unaccounted for gas. Similar common-sense legislation is already in place in Texas and Pennsylvania.

If passed, H.2683 would immediately lower gas bills and would have long-term positive environmental and health effects, but they are currently languishing in committee. Speaker DeLeo and the rest of the House should act to advance H.2683 and prevent Massachusetts residents from paying for gas they aren’t using!

Sincerely,

Phoebe Whitwell
Somerville