Senator Lewis and Mass. Senate Act to Lower Energy Costs While Protecting Climate Goals

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate to pass new energy affordability legislation that is projected to deliver billions in savings to ratepayers across the Commonwealth while keeping Massachusetts on track to meet its climate goals.

An Act to save people money, repair the climate, and grow the economy tackles rising energy costs head-on by cutting unnecessary fees and surcharges, cracking down on predatory sales practices by energy suppliers, and steering the state away from expensive infrastructure projects that don’t deliver value for ratepayers.

“The surging cost of utilities in Massachusetts is straining budgets after a particularly cold winter and the beginning of an already hot summer,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “This legislation targets specific policies to reduce ratepayer costs while ensuring that our transition to clean energy remains a top priority.”

Key policies to save residents money in the Senate’s energy affordability legislation include:

• Cutting intermediary fees collected by utility companies when the state buys clean energy — up to $420 million in resident savings.
• Reviewing hidden fees by requiring regulators to reform these charges, particularly ones that spike during high-demand months — $750 million in resident savings.
• Evening out seasonal price spikes by giving regulators more flexibility in how and when prices are set — $780 million in resident savings.
• Investigating markups on electric bills by examining if and when customers have been overcharged when utilities didn’t actively shop for the best electricity rates — up to $1 billion in resident savings.
• Updating the state’s gas pipe repair program which is meant to incentivize utilities to fix aging, leak-prone gas pipes, but has ballooned in cost, making up an estimated 8-11% of a typical gas bill, while allowing companies to skip standard cost reviews. The bill narrows the program to focus only on pipes that actually need repair, phases it out by 2030, and restores normal oversight — $1.46 billion in resident savings.
• Cracking down on predatory energy suppliers by strengthening consumer protections and enforcement to protect residents from predatory energy suppliers that use aggressive sales tactics to lure customers in with low introductory rates only to sharply raise prices later — more than $650 million in resident savings.
• Helping utilities pay down debt without passing it to customers by allowing utilities to finance certain costs, such as storm recovery and grid upgrades, at lower interest rates instead of borrowing at higher costs and passing those costs on to residents — up to $7.1 billion in resident savings.
• Cutting red tape in energy projects by simplifying utility infrastructure project planning that often goes through multiple, disconnected approval processes, which can overwhelm regulators and often lead to duplicated or unnecessary spending, into a single, streamlined process — $1.7 billion in resident savings.
• Making solar and clean energy more affordable up front by creating a way for homeowners who want to install solar panels or battery storage but can’t afford the upfront cost, to finance that equipment through their utility bill over time — $540 million in resident savings.

The legislation also strengthens the Mass Save program which helps residents weatherize homes and upgrade to energy-efficient equipment, by making it more accountable and effective. The bill caps the program’s administrative spending, removes a requirement that utility companies automatically receive bonus payments, and creates a new oversight board to keep the program focused on results.

The bill preserves the state’s commitment to transitioning to clean energy by adjusting the pace of certain renewable energy purchasing requirements to reflect federal setbacks to offshore wind, supporting renewable natural gas made from food and organic waste, and allowing outside investment in upgrading the electric grid to handle growing demand.

After passing 32-8 in the state Senate, the bill will now be reconciled with a different energy affordability bill that was previously passed by the House of Representatives before being sent to Governor Healey for her signature.

On the same day, the Senate also passed legislation to save municipalities and taxpayers money by requiring the creation of a new, reduced electric rate for low-wattage streetlights and parking lot lights. This bill was passed with bipartisan support in the Senate and sent to the House of Representatives for further review.