Massachusetts Senate preserves energy-efficiency funding in new bill

If you live in Massachusetts and have used Mass Save for rebates on insulation, weatherization, or efficient appliances, this fight in the Statehouse matters to you. Earlier this year, the House proposed cutting $1 billion from Mass Save, the state's efficiency program, out of its $4.5 billion three-year budget. Because of timing, that cut would have landed almost entirely in the program's final year, effectively stalling it. The Massachusetts Senate has now released its own energy bill, and it leaves that cut out entirely.

The Senate bill still needs full debate, set for July 1, and then negotiators from the House and Senate will need to reconcile the two versions, so nothing is final yet. But the committee chair overseeing energy policy says there's little interest among senators in cutting Mass Save funding at all. Supporters of keeping the program point to data showing that from 2016 to 2024, Mass Save's roughly $8 billion in spending prevented about $16 billion in higher energy costs for ratepayers, including people who never used the program directly.

The Senate bill also includes other provisions that could affect household bills over time: allowing cities to ban competitive electric suppliers, permitting plug-in solar systems, and phasing out a program that lets gas companies recover pipe-repair costs from customers faster, which currently adds fees to bills. None of this is settled law yet, but it signals that Mass Save rebates are likely to survive in something close to their current form.