Massachusetts House advances climate bill with $1 billion cut to energy efficiency program

Massachusetts climate bill H 5151, which passed in the House 128-27, has conservation and renewable energy groups saying it doesn’t go far enough to boost affordability or quell use of fossil fuels.

Acadia Center, an organization with a mission to advance clean energy solutions, also released a statement about what it calls “devastating, billion-dollar cuts to the Commonwealth’s energy efficiency program, Mass Save.” It also disputes the claim that the cuts will come from marketing, advertising and program administration costs, stating that the planned spend during its three-year planning cycle is less than $150 million.

Value of savings (in billions) of the Mass Save program. Source: Acadia Center

“What this $1 billion reduction would therefore mean is deep cuts to energy efficiency incentives and slashed customer access, effectively shutting down many parts of the program and harming one of our best tools to deliver affordable energy bills and achieve our climate goals,” the Acadia Center said in a statement.

To read the full article from PV Magazine, click here.