Massachusetts Senate preserves energy-efficiency funding in new bill
The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited energy legislation, a wide-ranging bill that touches on dozens of topics from plug-in solar to renewable energy procurement. Sponsors say the measures could save consumers some $14 billion over the next 10 years.
Perhaps most notable, however, is what isn’t in the 150-page bill: The Senate left out an extremely controversial $1 billion cut to the state’s nation-leading energy-efficiency programming found in the House version.
Money spent on Mass Save now yields significant benefits down the road. From 2016 to 2024, Mass Save’s investment of about $8 billion in energy efficiency prevented some $16 billion in increased energy costs, according to an analysis from climate nonprofit Acadia Center. That’s even before public health and environmental benefits are considered.
“This is a program that is cost-effective, and it saves ratepayers money, even if they’ve never used the program,” said Kyle Murray, Acadia Center’s director of state program implementation.
The new Senate version, supporters said, takes a deeper dive into some of the less obvious cost drivers, rather than looking for a big, simple answer.
“Everyone wishes there was a switch they could flip to make energy prices get cheap,” Acadia Center’s Murray said. “That’s not how it works.”
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