In Surprise Move, McKee Moves to Replace 2 Members of Energy Efficiency Council

PROVIDENCE — The Senate committee vetting three of Gov. Dan McKee’s nominees for the state Energy Efficiency Council chose to hold two of them for further study on Tuesday.

Sue AnderBois, a Democrat campaigning for the office of lieutenant governor and a sitting Providence City Council member, has served on the council since 2021.

Emily Koo, state director of the Acadia Center, who had been recommended by the Energy Efficiency Council for appointment, said she was as surprised as anyone else when she heard AnderBois and De la Cruz were getting replaced.

“There’s a cost-benefit test for every portfolio that will be cheaper than the cost of supply that you would otherwise have to buy and the nature of that has become increasingly divergent and in conflict with efforts by the governor and others to arbitrarily cap or limit the nature of the program,” Koo told lawmakers. “That’s why we’ve seen the recent erosion of the ability of the Energy Efficiency Council to provide sufficient oversight and to even meaningfully influence the outcomes of the energy efficiency programs.”

To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.

McKee says key energy council needs a reshuffle. Members say it’s ‘retribution.’

Key Points

  • A Rhode Island Senate committee has delayed Governor Dan McKee’s appointments to a state energy board.
  • The move comes amid concerns the governor is trying to replace members who opposed his proposed cuts to clean energy spending.
  • One of the members being replaced, Sue AnderBois, called the governor’s action retribution for her criticism.
  • Advocates noted there are other vacant seats on the council that could be filled instead of replacing current members.

In an unusual move, a Senate committee is holding back the appointments of new members to a state energy board amid concerns that Gov. Dan McKee is trying to push out current members who have disagreed with his proposals to cut spending on clean energy programs. 

Emily Koo, Rhode Island director of the Acadia Center, raised concerns about a weakening of the Energy Efficiency Council.

“I’ve seen the recent erosion of the ability of the Energy Efficiency Council to provide sufficient oversight,” she said.

To read the full article from the Providence Journal, click here.

R.I. lawmakers support renewable energy goal, despite governor’s pushback

PROVIDENCE — Environmental and labor groups on Monday hailed the House Finance Committee budget for refusing to push back renewable energy goals or to cap energy efficiency programs.

In his State of the State speech in January, Governor Daniel J. McKee outlined an “Affordability for All agenda” that called for lowering energy costs by $1 billion over five years in part by rolling back renewable energy targets and energy efficiency programs. He noted Rhode Island has the nation’s fourth-highest residential electric rates and that the Trump administration has gutted clean energy programs.

Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director at the Acadia Center, said environmental groups began this legislative session on the defensive because of McKee’s proposals. The House Finance budget “is much better,” she said. “I would like to frame it as a win.”

Koo said House leaders demonstrated a “commitment to clean and renewable energy” and the importance of maintaining the 2033 deadline. “It’s really important that our leadership is not turning our back on the climate and energy future we have been building for a decade,” she said.

Also, the Acadia Center is “very pleased” that the House Finance Committee rejected McKee’s plan to cap energy efficiency programs at $75 million, Koo said. that would have been 24 percent below the current year’s total and 48 percent below the average for the last five years, she said.

“These programs are incredibly cost effective,” Koo said. “It is a tool for Rhode Islanders to save money right away by participating in programs. And it reduces demand on the system, saving costs for all Rhode Islanders because it reduces supply and strain on the system.”

To read the full article from Boston Globe, click here.

How an energy efficiency program in Mass. became so politicized

Call it the age of the ratepayer revolt. As gas and electric bills soared over the last year and a half, people across Massachusetts have been looking for someone, or something, to blame.

Most people didn’t notice the rate hike at first because the weather wasn’t particularly cold, said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the Acadia Center, a clean energy advocacy group.

That also meant people were spending more on Mass Save — because like most charges on energy bills, the more gas or electricity you use, the more you pay.

“All of a sudden, overnight, people start having these super high bills,” Murray said. “And I think that’s where things kind of go off the rails.”

As the 2025 winter heating season ended, and the weather got warmer, there was less focus on Mass Save, said Murray of the Acadia Center. But last September, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio released a damning report about the program that immediately reignited criticism.

To read the full article from wbur, click here.

Massachusetts Energy Bill H5175 (2026)

I write these posts because our neighbors deserve straight answers about our energy future, and because Northeast Solar is committed to keeping our energy dollars and our energy decisions local, for the benefit of everyone in Western Massachusetts.

H5175 is the largest energy bill Massachusetts has passed in over a decade. For most Western Mass homeowners, the impact is simpler than the headlines suggest: residential solar still works, the new state permitting platform will make installs faster and cheaper, and the real concern is what happens to heat pump rebates.

The Mass Save program is estimated to have returned about $3.51 in benefits for every $1 spent and to have generated roughly $42 billion in benefits across the Commonwealth since 2013. Acadia Center’s Massachusetts program director Kyle Murray has called the proposed cuts “arbitrary and counterproductive,” and we agree with the math behind that assessment.

To read the full article from Northeast Solar, click here.

State regulators are weighing how much to crack down on leaky gas pipes

Massachusetts environmental officials are wading into a wonky debate around the rules governing a state effort to limit the amount of methane that gas companies can emit from leaks in their pipes.

What’s at stake is whether the state can accurately calculate emissions in the state — and then lower them in line with its ambitious climate commitments.

A coalition of environmental groups including CLF, Acadia Center, and Environmental League of Massachusetts wrote in public comments to DEP that the agency should consider eliminating the set-aside altogether.

The additional wiggle room for gas companies to emit methane is being abused and is “functioning more as a compliance cushion than as an emergency measure,” they wrote. HEET, a nonprofit energy innovation hub that has been mapping the state’s leaks for 10 years, expressed a similar position in its public comment.

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

Study Shows Potential Savings from Public Tx Financing in New England

Public financing mechanisms to support transmission buildout and asset condition projects could save New England power customers billions of dollars over the coming decades, according to a recent report by the Clean Air Task Force and the Acadia Center.

“Transmission today is financed with a mix of private equity and debt, which is both overweighted toward utility shareholder profit and comparatively much more expensive … than public options,” they wrote. “A range of public financing options backed by project revenue bonds can replace more expensive sources of private capital with lower-cost, tax-exempt public debt and equity.”

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

Experts, advocates, and state officials push back against $1 billion Mass Save cut

BOSTON –– Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony joined clean energy experts, contractors, affordable housing developers, and policy experts at a virtual Senate hearing today to defend the value of the nation-leading Mass Save program and warn against a proposal to slash $1 billion from the program’s budget and redirect 70% of Alternative Compliance Payments (ACPs) away from clean energy investments.

A recording of the hearing can be accessed here.

“Without energy efficiency programs in place, the Commonwealth’s electric demand would be around 27.7% higher than it is today, resulting in billions of dollars in additional costs for energy supply and infrastructure,” said Kyle Murray, Director, State Program Implementation, Acadia Center. “Specifically, Mass Save investments made between 2016 and 2024 meant that ratepayers avoided paying around $16.1 billion in electric, gas, and delivered fuels supply and infrastructure costs alone.”

To read the full press release from LISC, click here.

Legislation to cut red tape can make solar more affordable in RI | Opinion

Story Summary

  • Rhode Island homeowners face costly delays for solar panel installation due to slow and inconsistent permitting processes.
  • The proposed Solar Cost Reduction Act aims to streamline permitting for residential solar systems without changing safety standards.
  • This legislation would introduce automated tools and clear timelines, similar to systems used in over 300 other jurisdictions.
  • Streamlining the process is expected to lower costs for consumers, save time for building departments, and has no impact on the state budget.

A Rhode Island homeowner who decides to put solar on their roof this spring can end up waiting weeks for the installer to receive a permit on a system that already meets every applicable code. The hardware and the installer are ready to go. The paperwork isn’t.

This is also a rare opportunity to make progress without new spending. The bill has no impact on the state budget and no cost to ratepayers. Simply streamlining the process will reduce costs for consumers, save time for local building departments, and help small businesses and nonprofits lower energy bills by going solar for less.

That combination of benefits is why the bill has drawn such broad support, including from the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, the Acadia Center, Climate Action Rhode Island, and others. Business, municipal and environmental voices do not often line up behind the same policy unless it is practical, balanced and worth doing.

To read the full op-ed in the Providence Journal, click here.

5 energy affordability policies to watch right now in Mass.

Every two years, lawmakers in Massachusetts attempt to pass a big climate and energy bill. This year, the overarching theme is something everyone seems to be talking about: how to cut utility bills.

Opponents of the cut say it would be shortsighted to gut a program that helps residents use less energy and lower their bills. They also point out that the program provides long-term savings for everyone in the state, not just those who take advantage of its rebates, because energy efficiency reduces the need to invest in new electric and gas infrastructure.

An analysis by the Acadia Center published earlier this year found that, between 2016 and 2024, ratepayers spent $8.4 billion on Mass Save but avoided spending $16.1 billion on electricity, gas and related infrastructure.

To read the full article from wbur, click here.