The winter heating season might be over, but Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey threw another log on the Legislature’s fire with a sweeping and long-awaited energy efficiency bill.
The plan, unveiled Tuesday in Leominster, would, among other things, eliminate or significantly reduce charges on energy bills.
It also would open the door to new nuclear energy technologies and make nuts-and-bolts changes to electricity procurement and supply practices in an attempt to save ratepayers $10 billion over a decade.
The legislation further would allow the state to directly procure its energy. That would eliminate the fees the state pays utilities for entering into those contracts.
And it would “explore cutting-edge nuclear technologies,” the governor’s office said.
It also seeks to reduce the value of net metering credits for new and large solar hookups or other facilities that transfer energy back to the grid in exchange for a bill credit.
“Massachusetts families and businesses can’t afford big energy price spikes now, or in the future. This bill – along with our energy affordability agenda – gets costs off bills, saves people money, and adopts an all-of-the-above strategy to bring new energy into Massachusetts,” Healey said.
The governor’s bill would also require the Department of Public Utilities to review and reform all charges on energy bills, and establish a cap on month-to-month bill increases.
The proposal comes months after Bay Staters saw their energy bills skyrocket, prompting the Arlington Democrat to authorize a $50 credit on April electricity bills, and a suite of executive actions designed to rein in costs.
Healey’s office identified three areas for savings over the next 10 years: “Getting Costs Off Bills and Avoid Unnecessary Costs” (about $6.9 billion in savings), “Creating Accountability” ($2.5 billion), and “Supporting the Customer” ($900 million).
Shifting to utilities the ability to finance the Mass Save efficiency program, Electric Sector Modernization Plans, storm response, and other programs through rate reduction bonds would lead to “the ability to reduce ratepayer costs by up to $5 billion in the first 10 years,” Healey’s office said.
In dueling statements, forces on both sides of the issue weighed in.
The pro-business Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance sharply criticized the proposal, arguing that it “doubled down on the same costly alternative energy mandates.”
“That’s not reform. That’s a confession,” Paul Diego Craney, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“This plan is political window dressing. Governor Healey is trying to calm public outrage over sky-high electric bills without making any of the tough decisions needed to actually lower them,” Craney continued, adding that the bill “gives more power to the same bureaucrats [who] created this mess and asks ratepayers to trust them again. That’s not vying for affordability — that’s arrogance.”
Caitlin Peale Sloan, the vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation for Massachusetts, credited Healey for her actions, but said she still needed to take “bolder steps” to rein in costs.
Healey’s plan “introduces some no-nonsense reforms and promising ideas, particularly around removing outdated programs and creating new ways to make clean energy projects more accessible,” Peale Sloan said.
“However, to truly make energy affordable, the governor must take bolder steps to rein in excessive utility spending on costly infrastructure projects and corporate profits. Holding utilities accountable is essential—not just for climate progress, but for the financial well-being of Massachusetts families,” Peale Sloan said.
