Columbia Gas to leave Massachusetts by fall, pay $56 million per AG settlement

Columbia Gas will leave Massachusetts by the fall and pay another $56 million for its role in the Merrimack Valley gas disaster, according to a settlement announced Thursday by state Attorney General Maura Healey.

The utility company faulted for the 2018 blasts will transfer its assets to Eversource on Nov. 1, pay for an “Energy Relief Fund” to help 26,000 low-income customers wipe out nearly $15 million in gas bill debt and put $41 million toward energy efficiency programs and incentives in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover run through the AG’s office and Department of Energy Resources.

“Today’s first-of-its-kind agreement ensures that Columbia Gas never does business in Massachusetts again, invests millions of dollars in the Merrimack Valley, and helps low-income customers pay their gas bills,” Healey said in a statement.

The settlement — now pending Department of Public Utilities approval — concludes Healey and DPU’s investigations into the explosions that killed a Lawrence teenager, injured two dozen others, damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes and displaced thousands.

Read more: https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/02/columbia-gas-to-leave-massachusetts-by-fall-pay-56-million-per-ag-settlement/