Article 92 Clean Energy Future Committee Statement¶
Clean Energy Future Committee
MEMORANDUM
To: Members of 2026 Town Meeting
Cc:
From: Members of the Clean Energy Future Committee
Date: March 27, 2026
RE: Clean Energy Future Committee Support for Warrant Article 92
The Arlington Clean Energy Future Committee (CEFC) submits this memorandum in
support of Warrant Article 92: Resolution/Transitioning to Clean Heat in Massachusetts.
The CEFC was established by the Select Board in 2017 to guide the Town of Arlington
to a future where, by 2050, net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases (GHGs) attributable to all sources in town are zero. To pursue this mission, the
CEFC published a Net Zero Action Plan (NZAP) in 2021, which is the Town’s roadmap
to the net zero goal. The 2021 NZAP (and its forthcoming five-year update) emphasizes
that using electricity produced by clean sources instead of combusting fossils fuels in
our buildings and vehicles is a key strategy to achieving our goal. A future in which we
“electrify everything” requires a sustained transition in our energy systems, including the
strategic decommissioning of the natural gas network that serves the Town.
This process will not happen overnight. It demands coordination, planning, and
resources. It also demands urgency, commitment, and leadership. Here in Arlington, we
know what it takes to lead on climate change. We have made tremendous strides
toward our goals in the past five years. We built an all-electric, LEED Platinum certified
high school. We passed a Fossil Fuel Free Bylaw prohibiting new fossil fuel appliances
in new construction and major renovations. We launched the tremendously successful
Electrify Arlington program, which has led to the installation of hundreds of new heat
pump systems that are displacing natural gas and other fuel use across our community.
But we cannot decarbonize all of the roughly 12,000 buildings in town by 2050 by
relying on individual owners to electrify their buildings one at a time. Many residents rent
or are limited by the cost, time, and effort involved. Strategic, neighborhood-scale
electrification has emerged as a way to move faster while prioritizing equity in the
process. Instead of having individual property owners struggling with decisions around
the appropriate timing and technologies for electrification, developing and implementing
a neighborhood-based strategy would offer greater support, drive broader participation,
and would yield efficiencies and cost-savings.
Crucially, a neighborhood-based approach to electrification makes sure everyone
benefits from electrification and that no one gets left behind. It will help address our
energy affordability crisis, if funds currently invested in pipeline replacement via National
Grid’s Gas System Enhancement Plan (GSEP)—which has contributed significantly to
natural gas bill increases
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—could instead be funneled toward energy efficiency
upgrades and installation of electric heating and cooling equipment and other electric
appliances. It ensures that lower-income households are not left to pay for repairs to the
natural gas network, as more affluent households move away from natural gas. Heat
pumps will also provide for efficient air conditioning in homes that may not yet have it,
as summers get hotter with climate change. Lastly, while all energy prices are subject to
volatility, natural gas and fuel oil prices are more volatile than electricity prices.
The Town cannot do this work alone. Warrant Article 92 will send a clear message to our
utility partners, legislators, and Town administrators that Arlington is serious about what
is required to do this work. And it will help us take concrete next steps to get it done as
quickly as possible, with the necessary technical, political, and administrative backing.
The CEFC respectfully recommends that Town Meeting vote in support of Warrant
Article 92.
Sincerely,
Members of the Arlington Clean Energy Future Committee
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hps://www.mass.gov/news/ag-campbell-applauds-changes-to-gsep-program-that-will-save-ratepayers-money
