A Mass Save reform generating consensus among lawmakers is drawing blowback from advocates

In a sign of just how heated the debate around the state’s energy efficiency program has become, even a relatively small proposed reform that has been uniting Beacon Hill Democrats is generating increasingly intense pushback among some advocates and prompting larger questions about the goals of Mass Save altogether.

Energy affordability legislation that the Senate passed earlier this month included language that largely mirrors a provision approved by the House, which would subject moderate-income customers in some of the state’s poorest communities to new income verification requirements in order to receive certain Mass Save benefits.

“This is really trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at Acadia Center, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, who also serves on the energy efficiency advisory council. “At a time when self-attestation has finally got the moderate-income program really running well, in keeping with requests from the Legislature for years to help those individuals access benefits, this really seems counterintuitive to trying to achieve those results.”

To read the full article from Commonwealth Beacon, click here.