As Massachusetts regulators prepare to launch hearings on the merger next month, energy and climate change policies are again gaining attention, pushed to the forefront by another surge in oil prices and violent storms that have devastated the Midwest and Western Massachusetts. National energy and climate policies are being debated in Washington, while several states are adopting their own energy and climate initiatives.
The stakes are high. In Massachusetts alone, green energy mandates aimed at stabilizing prices and cutting greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to cost utilities — and ultimately customers — nearly $10 billion over the next decade, according to the Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank at Suffolk University.
“The utility sector is in the early stages of a relatively significant and long-term capital spend — a huge part of that will be environmental compliance,’’ said Jim Owen, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group in Washington. “Obviously, a larger, more well-capitalized company that is [doing business] in several states is just going to have a bigger voice in the conversation.’’
The prospect that an already formidable corporate lobby — and frequent adversary — could become even more in fluential in state houses and Congress worries environmental advocates.
“A merged NU and NStar would be a political powerhouse in New England, and that power could be used to further environmental progress or delay it,’’ said Derek K. Murrow, energy and climate policy director with the advocacy group Environment Northeast. “They have yet to publicly commit to being proactive on environmental policy.’’
From the moment they announced their intent to combine in October, executives at NStar and Northeast Utilities have made it clear that the merger, which must be approved by Massachusetts regulators, is motivated in part by their desire to increase political clout.
