Boston Thermal Energy Network Feasibility Study
At a glance
- What: a regional feasibility study run by the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, with about 25 institutions and large property owners, of shared thermal sources (Boston Harbor, Fort Point Channel, the Mystic and Charles Rivers and bedrock beneath) for a citywide thermal energy network.
- Where it stands: under way; the City of Cambridge, Harvard and MIT sit on its stakeholder advisory group. Findings timeline was shown but is not readable in the captions.
- Next: results are expected to inform the owner-operator and governance question that MIT and the committee chair consider the next big step.
Scope
- Five deliverables: thermal supply, distribution, demand, investment opportunities, and regulatory and policy considerations (permitting and ownership).
- Funded by the state clean energy center and the City of Boston; engineering consultant lead is Salas O'Brien; HEET sits on its technical advisory group.
- Goals: health and jobs benefits, relief from fossil fuel price swings, lower shared costs, less strain on the electric grid.
Sources
Discussion time
About 10 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-20 - Health and Environment Committee | 10 |
Log
- 2026-10-20 - 2026-10-20 - Health and Environment Committee — Lindsay Butler presented the study to the committee online.