Press Releases

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Democratic Party is today blasting the hypocrisy of Republican candidates for Governor who have spent months lying about Governor Maura Healey’s record of standing up for ratepayers while their own top supporters took the same position as Healey. In a 2016 letter, top endorsers for Mike Minogue, Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy argued that ratepayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for private developers seeking to build new gas pipelines.

“The Republican candidates for Governor love to twist Governor Healey’s record of advocating for an all-of-the-above approach to increase energy supply and lower costs,” said MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan. “The truth is that, as Attorney General, Maura Healey stood up for the ratepayers by preventing corporate developers from passing down the costs of building new pipelines onto them. This position was echoed by a bipartisan group of legislators, including many of the Republican candidates’ strongest supporters. So Mike Minogue, Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy need to answer to the facts. Do they agree with their Republican endorsers who took the exact same position as Maura Healey standing up for ratepayers against corporate pipeline developers? Do they agree with their Republican colleagues that corporate developers should have to foot the bill to build the pipelines they profit from, not ratepayers?”

The letter was led by Republican State Representative Bradley H. Jones Jr., now Minority Leader, and Democratic State Representative Stephen Kulik. It was written in April 2016, four months before a Court agreed with the Attorney General that ratepayers should not foot the bill for the new pipelines. Key lines include:

“The proposals to pay for the $5-8 billion cost for new pipelines by assessing a surcharge, tariff or tax on electricity customers are unprecedented. Ordinarily, the natural gas producers would be expected to pay for this infrastructure expansion, if the expected revenue from natural gas sales would justify the cost.1 The fact that this is not happening means industry players have determined the risk is not worth the reward. Why should the ratepayer shoulder risk when private industry is unwilling to?”

Many of the signers of the letters have endorsed Republican candidates for Governor, including:

• Geoff Diehl, 2022 Republican nominee for Governor and Mike Minogue endorser

• Kimberly Ferguson, Mike Kennealy endorser

• Marc Lombardo, Brian Shortsleeve endorser

• Shaunna O’Connell, Brian Shortsleeve endorser

• Kate Campanale, 2022 Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, running mate to Chris Doughty and wife of Senator Peter Durant, both Brian Shortsleeve endorsers
  

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