Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s big question on climate

Consumer shock at high energy bills this frigid winter sent Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts policymakers scrambling to ease the burden.

State regulators cut by $500 million the proposed budget for MassSave, an energy efficiency program for consumers interested in help buying heat pumps and electric vehicle equipment. Utility companies agreed to lower residential bills by 10 percent in March and April, with eyes on still getting their money through bills later in the year, when heating bills are typically lower.

The Acadia Center, a nonprofit supportive of clean energy and backed by foundations like the Barr Foundation and the Merck Family Fund, named for the heir to the pharmaceutical fortune, hit back at the report, saying the groups relied on “questionable” calculations that “vastly” inflate the cost of the clean energy transition. The report also “ignores the impossibly high cost of business-as-usual,” the Acadia Center said. “New Englanders withdraw billions of dollars out of the regional economy each year to purchase fossil fuels sourced outside New England.”

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

Massachusetts heat pump owners could pay less for electricity next winter

Nearly 3 million Massachusetts households will have the chance to start saving money on heating next winter under new seasonal heat-pump rates from the state’s three major electric utilities.

In the winter, though, average demand is much lower, so the strain on the grid is much lighter. During these months, the delivery charge doesn’t properly reflect the actual costs of keeping the grid running, said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for clean energy nonprofit Acadia Center.

Households that operate heat pumps in the winter are ​“not actually putting much stress on the system at all,” he said. ​“They really shouldn’t have to pay as much as they are.”

To read the full article from Canary Media, click here.

Stakeholders Respond to Mass. Proposal to Limit Cost Recovery for Gas Expansion

Business groups and environmental advocates expressed divergent views on a proposal by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities that would require new gas customers to cover the entire cost of connecting to the system.

The department’s draft policy would end the utility practice of including the costs of connecting new customers into rate base. This is currently allowed if the utility expects to recover the costs through distribution fees from the new customers over an extended period.

The AGO and a range of environmental nonprofits called for the DPU to add language establishing strict criteria for the exemptions that would allow a project’s connection costs to be covered by ratepayers.

“The draft policy should establish a clear and consistent methodology for assessing a demonstrable reduction in GHG emissions for proposed line extensions serving new construction,” wrote a coalition of environmental groups led by Rewiring America and the Acadia Center.

To read the full article from RTO Insider, click here.

The Constitution pipeline will not solve wintertime energy price hikes

From 2014 to 2016, residents of Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Connecticut successfully blocked construction of the Kinder Morgan/NED and Constitution pipelines due to their environmental destruction capabilities and irresponsible use of eminent domain. Residents of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York defeated the Constitution pipeline in 2016, a decision supported by the courts in 2020.

A recent Acadia Center article noted:

Since 2018, existing gas customers have footed the bill for 80% of all new gas … connections. And these subsidies … are driving up gas bills for everyone. In 2023 alone, Massachusetts gas customers were charged $160 million to add new customers … to the tune of $9,000 per new customer, which is reflected on ratepayer gas bills.

To read the full article from the Berkshire Edge, click here.

Fuel Rates, Mandates, Tariffs Add Punch to Energy Price Stew

As Massachusetts Democrats predict price shocks from President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canadian oil and gas, a Republican senator on Tuesday blamed ballooning ratepayer costs on the state’s clean energy mandates.

In response to Tuesday’s presser, the Acadia Center said high natural gas costs this winter stem from the New England region’s “untenable over reliance on fossil fuels, with rising energy burdens driven by natural gas infrastructure, generous utility profits, and the region’s continued fossil fuel investments.”

“Right now, the region has almost all its eggs in the fossil fuel basket, and this offers only the false promise of fool’s gold in protecting the region’s consumers from rising energy bills,” the Acadia Center said. “The region must double down on its climate and clean energy goals to make the broader northeast region energy independent from fossil fuels, reduce consumer price spikes, and mitigate the economic harms of worsening climate change.”

To read the full article from State House News, click here.

ISO-NE Consumer Liaison Group Discusses Benefits of Energy Efficiency

PROVIDENCE — Speakers at the ISO-NE Consumer Liaison Group on March 27 discussed the system-wide costs and emissions benefits of energy efficiency and demand flexibility and called on policymakers to double down on efficiency programs as energy demand grows.

State energy efficiency programs have faced some political scrutiny in recent months amid high winter energy costs. To help reduce near-term electricity costs, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities in late February directed utilities to shave $500 million off the upcoming three-year plan for the Mass Save energy efficiency program. 

Jamie Dickerson, senior director of climate and clean energy programs at the Acadia Center, said energy efficiency is responsible for a roughly 15% reduction in the region’s overall power demand and has brought more than $55 billion in benefits to the region since 2012.  

He said it’s unfortunate energy efficiency “has emerged as a scapegoat for some,” given the cost reductions it can provide. Moving ahead, he emphasized the importance of energy efficiency as peak loads increase and estimated that achieving 20% demand flexibility in winter could save the region about $8 billion in transmission spending by 2050. 

To read the full article from RTO Insider, click here.

A New Bill in Rhode Island Would Give Electric Ratepayers More Resources to Fight Back

The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission on Friday voted to approve Rhode Island Energy’s proposed summer rates for residential customers, saying customers can expect relief following costly winter bills.

But the new rates have been met with such backlash by community members concerned about surging electric rates that state Rep. Megan Cotter has co-sponsored legislation that would fund customers’ participation in hearings about ratemaking and other issues before the RIPUC.

Part of the reason the new summer rates have been approved, despite public comments and protests, is that community members lack the necessary resources to get a seat in the rooms where decisions about their energy system are being made, said Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director at the Acadia Center, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization focusing on climate solutions.

That’s why Cotter, in partnership with the Acadia Center and the Conservation Law Foundation, introduced legislation to create an intervenor support program. The bill would enable individuals or organizations seeking legal representation to take part in evidentiary hearings at the RIPUC and the Energy Facility Siting Board.

“The resources, attorneys, and regulatory and technical knowledge that are needed to be able to participate and present evidence in a way that can actually change decisions is really an issue of access, and so we’re seeing decisions and proceedings not reflecting the public interest,” Koo said.

Unlike public comment hearings, evidentiary hearings work more like a courtroom, Koo explained. During those meetings, commissioners serve like a panel of judges, looking at proposals and evidence presented by the interested parties.

Koo is optimistic that the bill will eventually pass in the state.

“I think that there is a lot of appetite for engaging in the regulatory process, and that this is a really great inclusive program option,” she said.

To read the full article from Inside Climate News, click here.

Maine GOP lawmakers, think tanks blame alt. energy ‘mandates’ for rising costs

Some right-leaning groups are blaming alternative energy for rising rates.

A group of Republican lawmakers from Maine and across New England as well as members of conservative think tanks held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to say “net zero policies” and “energy mandates” are driving up energy costs, squeezing homeowners, and forcing small businesses to absorb price increases.

Clean energy advocates, including Acadia Center, say the group is making false claims.

They say most of the energy in New England comes from fossil fuels and electric energy is projected to bring down costs in the years ahead.

Acadia Center writes in part:

“Fossil fuel-interest think tanks are back with a new round of the same tired and misguided attacks against clean energy policies in New England.”

To read the full article from WGME, click here.

High Energy Costs in the Northeast Fuel Innovation

Saving energy is big business in the Northeast, where electricity costs are 70 percent higher than the U.S. average as of February 2025. In addition to high costs, there’s also increasing demand for electricity in New England, which is expected to grow by about 17 percent from 2024 to 2033, and in New York, where it might nearly double by 2042. On top of that, the Northeast grid is expected to be at “elevated risk” for winter shortfalls of electricity, says the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

Why Democrats joined Trump’s pipeline push

A once-dormant debate over natural gas pipelines in the Northeast is back — courtesy of President Donald Trump.

The idea of building pipelines roiled the region a decade ago. The controversy all but disappeared amid political opposition, as officials in New York and other states ramped up climate targets and rejected permits for planned pipeline projects.

Acadia Center, an environmental group, estimates that natural gas transmission capacity into New England has increased 40 percent since 2014. But those expansion projects have failed to provide consumers with financial relief, said Jamie Dickerson, the group’s senior director for the climate and clean energy program.

“If the concern is the rising cost of folks’ gas bills — which, obviously, it rightly is — I think the logical step is to get off gas and diversify your energy supply and not to double down more on the fuel that’s been sort of driving bills up this winter,” Dickerson said.

To read the full article from E&E News, click here.