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As affluent homeowners defect to heat pumps, the massive costs of maintaining America’s aging gas pipelines are being concentrated onto a shrinking base of customers who can afford it least. To understand how to prevent an impending utility death spiral, I talk with the Building Decarbonization Coalition’s Kristin George Bagdanov and Panama Bartholomy. We discuss the legal limits of a utility’s “obligation to serve,” the potential for gas companies to transition into geothermal thermal energy networks, and why the US has suddenly become the global leader in heat pump sales.