Massachusetts energy bill would make big cuts to energy efficiency

An energy-affordability bill approved yesterday by the Massachusetts House of Representatives could speed solar permitting, strengthen protections for many electricity consumers, and boost EV charging infrastructure. It could also pull the rug out from underneath the state’s nation-leading energy-efficiency programming.

The legislation, passed in a late-night session on Thursday, takes a wide-ranging approach to combating rising power bills in the state, which faces some of the highest rates in the U.S. What has drawn the most attention, however, is its proposal to cut $1 billion from the energy-efficiency program Mass Save through 2027 in an attempt to lower the fees customers pay to fund it.

Bill sponsor Rep. Mark Cusack, a Democrat, argues that any cuts would target administration and marketing expenses and that Massachusetts would still be spending more per capita on energy efficiency than any other state. Opponents of the measure, though, say it would undermine job growth and slow progress toward the state’s emissions-reduction goals, while doing little to lower electricity costs now or in the future.

“I have to assume it’s going to mean layoffs in the energy-efficiency industry, and it’s going to mean a whole lot fewer heat pumps,” said Larry Chretien, executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

Massachusetts has been grappling with rising energy costs for years, but the issue has taken on increasing urgency in recent months. And even in the Democratic-dominated state, the conversation around this bill reflects debates that are happening throughout the region — and the country — about whether to compromise climate and affordability goals for the possibility of savings.

Last May, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey proposed a sprawling affordability package, which received a hearing in June and proceeded no further. In November, Cusack introduced legislation that included many of the measures from Healey’s bill, but also called for slashing the Mass Save budget by $330 million, reinstating incentives for high-efficiency gas heating systems, and making the state’s 2030 emissions-reduction goals nonbinding.

The reaction from consumer and climate advocates was immediate and fierce: The bill would eviscerate the state’s decarbonization progress and do little to help residents struggling with high bills, they said.

Despite these concerns, the Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee voted in favor of the bill, sending it to the House Ways and Means Committee for further revision. There, lawmakers removed many of the contested measures from Cusack’s original proposal but tripled the proposed Mass Save funding cut, an escalation that has rankled members of the renewable energy community.

“Legislators are feeling the pressure to deliver immediate savings and are cannibalizing programs that actually function to lower electricity costs over the medium to long term,” said Ben Underwood, co-CEO of Boston-based solar company Resonant Energy.

The bill now moves to the state Senate energy committee, whose vice chair Sen. Michael Barrett has a track record of assertive climate and clean energy action.