Acadia Center Applauds Massachusetts Senate for Passage of Wide-Ranging Energy Affordability Legislation, Rejecting Cuts to Successful Programs and Advancing Novel Policy Frameworks to Drive Affordability with Clean Energy
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kyle Murray, Director, State Program Implementation
kmurray@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 ext.106
Conrad Jarzebowksi, Senior Director, Communications
cjarzebowski@acadiacenter.org
For Immediate Release
July 2, 2026
BOSTON, MA — Yesterday, the Massachusetts State Senate advanced a broad package of legislation designed to meet the pressing affordability and reliability needs of the moment, without rejecting or neglecting the imperative of clean energy – and indeed harnessing clean energy as a driver of cost savings. Acadia Center applauds members of the Senate, committee leadership, and Senate leadership for advancing this sweeping set of actions to address the acute affordability concerns felt by so many families and businesses. Acadia Center was proud to work with Senator Comerford and her staff to successfully deliver amendments that would investigate utility return on equity (ROE) and eliminate an unnecessary subsidy adder to transmission owners. The legislation takes important steps to address affordability concerns for ratepayers by taking actions such as authorizing rate reduction bonds to finance costs, phasing out the gas system enhancement plans, and stopping abuses in competitive supply sales, marketing, and contracting. Further, the legislation does not include cuts to the budget of the Mass Save program. Now, policymakers in the House, Senate, and Executive Branch must come together to reconcile the respective branches’ proposals and help the Commonwealth take meaningful action on energy affordability and a cleaner, more dynamic grid.
“The Senate should be applauded for passing a robust and comprehensive piece of legislation to help address ratepayer costs,” said Kyle Murray, Director, State Program Implementation and Massachusetts Program Director of Acadia Center. “While everyone wishes there was a simple path to clean and affordable energy, the true answers lie in complex and varied solutions, which this legislation appropriately addresses.”
About the Legislative Package
The Senate’s omnibus affordability bill contains a number of notable provisions, including the following highlights:
Clean energy supply:
- Directing the DPU to investigate retail premiums realized in basic service procurements
- Ordering the DPU to review rate reforms that cut bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Stopping abuses in competitive supply sales, marketing, and contract
- Allowing on-bill financing of residential clean energy projects
- Phasing biomass and combined heat and power out of the alternative portfolio standards
- Eliminating remuneration fees for utilities in clean energy contracts
- Creating a clean energy procurement program at DOER
- Procuring 10 gigawatts of offshore wind and 10 gigawatts of solar by 2040
- Authorizing plug-in solar and battery systems
Clean energy demand and storage:
- Creating new energy storage incentive program
- Does not implement short-sighted cuts to Mass Save
- Promoting virtual power plants to reduce peak load
- Creating peak load demand targets on the grid
- Incorporating load management into building decarbonization and energy efficiency investment plans, grid modernization plans, and transportation electrification
- Allowing data centers to collect tax credits only if they meet strict environmental, economic, and labor standards
Gas System Transition:
- Phases out the Gas System Enhancement Plan program
- Require just transition plans from gas utilities for gas workers
Grid Planning and Investment Reform:
- Authorizing rate reduction bonds to reduce project financing costs
- Directing the DPU to investigate utility return on equity
- Eliminating an unnecessary subsidy to transmission owners to participate in ISO-NE
- Creating strong requirements for proactive gird planning
- Updating siting and permitting for solar
- Creating new flexible interconnection program
- Authorizing third-party financing of electric transmission and distribution projects
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