Looking to build on efforts to reduce gas and electric bills, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is promoting a new plan she claims could save utility customers billions over the next 10 years.
2025 featured a winter of discontent earlier in the year as Massachusetts residents dealt with high utility bills. Low temperatures, high demand and rates approved late last year by the Department of Public Utilities led to bill spikes that, in turn, led to public outcry and the state taking action.
That included a “Energy Affordability Agenda” unveiled by the governor a few months ago. On Tuesday, Healey and other officials appeared to unveil part two.
“We're filing a bill today that I'm calling ‘The Energy Affordability Independence and Innovation Act,’” the governor said during a press conference in Leominster. “We expect it will save consumers over $10 billion over time, including $100 million in the first year alone.”
It’s a series of reforms that if passed, would build on the $6 billion the Energy Affordability Agenda was expected to save.
One of the hallmarks of that agenda was a $50 credit applied to electricity bills in April. It also involved the DPU taking a series of actions, like directing utility companies to “improve the discount rate enrollment process” for customers and provide immediate bill relief.
Among other actions in February, the DPU moved to reduce bills by reducing a surcharge found on many of them – one that funds the Mass Save program, which gives customers rebates for energy efficient installations and repairs.
Reducing surcharges is part of the latest proposal from Healey – among other facets.
“Here's what it’s going to do. Number one, it's going to take charges off your bills. For too long, it's been the practice to add more charges onto your bills. We're going to start removing a bunch of those things,” Healey said. “Two, we're going to expand that moderate-income discount so that now gas customers will be able to get it in addition to our electric customers. And three, it's going to bring more energy into Massachusetts. More supply means lower prices.”
According to Healey’s office, the legislation looks to phase out the “Alternative Portfolio Standard charge,” said to cost bill payers $60 million per year. It would also allow for exploring different ways for funding programs like Mass Save.
The administration hopes that through the act’s “Getting Costs Off Bills” focus alone, it could save $6.9 billion over a decade.
Another focus, entitled “Bringing More Energy into Massachusetts,” on a “fact sheet” from Healey’s office, could save a minimum of $200 million.
Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, says securing more energy for the state is a major component of the bill and the administration in general.
It’s a goal that’s motivated securing Canadian hydropower, which Tepper says is “back on track” to come into the state.
She says the newly-announced bill would expand state energy procurement authority, reduce barriers to what the administration considers “small nuclear technologies” and more.
“We're not talking about sort of your old school nuclear power plant,” Tepper said. “What we're talking about is cutting-edge, small-scale nuclear technology. We're also breaking down barriers to build more energy in Massachusetts and regionally, with more flexible procurement authority, we’ll be able to supply the state with the energy we need, and at the same time, be more flexible about when we buy that electricity.”
There’s also an accountability aspect of the bill that the Healey administration claims could save ratepayers $2.5 billion over 10 years.
The aforementioned fact sheet states “Massachusetts residents should only be charged costs associated with delivering power to their homes and businesses.” It goes on to say the legislation would authorize the DPU to “audit the utilities and ban the use of ratepayer funds for costs not associated with providing energy to customers, like lobbying and entertainment.”
In addition to having the DPU review and reform all charges on bills, it would also require the department to establish “a cap on month-to-month bill increases,” a move meant to address rate shocks customers have felt in the past.
