Some members of the Senate don’t want you to spend all those recently announced savings on your electric and gas bills just yet.

Weeks after federal tax reform generated rate reductions of $56 million for Eversource electric customers and $36 million dollars for National Grid gas customers, the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change released an energy bill yesterday that will take all the savings back from the wallets of consumers.

Proponents claim these proposals will reduce the threat of climate change. They will not. Instead, the bill has become Christmas in February for energy related special interests. 

The 71-page bill, still under review by AIM, contains unnecessary and redundant programs just a year after the Legislature passed and Governor Charlie Baker signed another omnibus energy measure that brought competitive bidding to the procurement of clean energy. Massachusetts has already committed to a goal of 80 percent clean energy by 2050.  Legislating more will not make it happen faster ” it will just increase prices for something we are already on track to meet.

The bill includes:

• A requirement for the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs to develop a new “market-based compliance mechanism” on carbon emissions from transportation. The mechanism is better known as a carbon tax.  AIM supports imposition of a tax on carbon only if the money is used exclusively to invest in programs, including public transportation, that reduce fuel use. The current bill passes such discussions off to a regulatory process.
• A mandated increase in the amount of renewable power purchased by energy suppliers. Last year’s energy bill required the state’s utilities to purchase large amounts of offshore wind, hydropower and onshore wind as part of the largest competitive procurements for power ever in Massachusetts.  The results of these competitive bids are currently under review by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Department of Public Utilities (DPU). AIM believes lawmakers should let the current process play out before layering addition regulations on top.
• An increase in subsidies (net metering) for solar development. The provision sounds good, but is unnecessary. The commonwealth unveiled a new competitive solar program in August that has already  reduced the cost of solar energy by nearly 50 percent. Let the new program work.

Employers urge the new Senate President, Harriet Chandler, and House Speaker Robert Deleo to take no action on the energy bill since many of the proposals are already set in motion. Give the current programs time to be implemented in a manner that creates benefit for the ratepayer, not special energy interests.

Interested in updates on energy issues? Contact Bob Rio at rrio@aimnet.org.