Yesterday, the MA Senate voted to 32 to 8 for its energy bill, setting the stage for negotiations with the House.
The chamber’s five Republicans voted NO, and they were joined by Michael Brady (D-Brockton), Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), and Michael Moore (D-Millbury).
The following overview of the bill is adapted from a Mass Power Forward action guide.
GOOD:
- Preserves funding for Mass Save: This is in contrast to the House bill, which cut $1 billion from Mass Save. The Senate bill caps administrative costs at 5% and removes gas companies from administering the program. It also adjusts the scope of the program to include solar, battery storage, and other clean energy technologies that save customers money. 20% of Mass Save is designated for LMI programs, codifying in law a recent equity allocation win in the latest Mass Save 3 year plan.
- Phases Out the Gas System Enhancement Program (GSEP): Instead, utilities would be required to do advanced leak repair where feasible, as opposed to costly and unnecessary full pipe replacements.
- Increases Clean Energy Procurement: DOER (Department Of Energy Resources) is authorized to procure 20 GW (Gigawatts) of renewable energy, including 10 GW of solar and 10 GW of wind, by 2040.
- Regulates Predatory Third Party Suppliers: The bill enables municipalities to ban scammy third party electricity suppliers, who often rip off vulnerable communities with misleading offers. Third-party supply prices are capped for discount rate customers with bans on automatic renewals, cancellation fees, and variable rates.
- Expands Geothermal: The bill authorizes gas companies to create thermal energy networks (networked geothermal) with worker protections.
- Reins in Utility Profiteering: The bill bars the use of ratepayer funds for promotional and political advertising; trade-association dues; charitable giving; lobbying; board/officer travel, lodging, entertainment, gifts, food/beverage, aircraft; tax penalties; non-regulated product marketing.
- Bans Heat Wave Shut Offs: The bill bans electric shutoffs during heat waves, similar to the heating shutoff ban we have during cold weather.
- Promotes Gas Transition Planning: The bill requires DPU to conduct integrated energy planning to facilitate transition off gas and requires disclosure of how infrastructure investment decisions (e.g. substation constructions) are made and reduce them.
BAD
- Income Verification: Mass Save programs must verify household income for moderate-income rebates. This creates further bureaucratic hurdles for low and moderate-income customers, who can currently qualify for programs via self-attestation — which has been hugely successful.
- Mass Save Budget Caps: Mass Save budgets are capped for each 3 yr. Plan, preventing mid-budget increases.
- Corporate Representation in Mass Save Governance: The bill adds business representatives to the Mass Save Energy EfficiencyAdvisory Council)
- Weakened Renewable Portfolio Standard: The bill reduces the state’s annual RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standards), i.e., the requirement for utilities to build renewables, increase from 3% to 1%.
A total of 183 amendments were filed, of which 67 were withdrawn, 92 were rejected, and 24 were adopted.
Of the amendments backed by Mass Power Forward, three were adopted:
- #1 (Comerford): Protect Constituents From Unreasonable Utility Profits, which studies studies the amount of profit utilities are being allowed to get from ratepayers
- #25 (Gomez): Addressing Biomass, which removes highly-polluting woody biomass as an eligible fuel under the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standard for Municipal Lighting plants. It passed 35-4, with Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) joining Democrats.
- #162 (Howard): Data Center Tax Credits, which conditions such tax credits on meeting various environmental, labor, and transparency standards
Two were withdrawn:
- #37 (Creem): Prohibition on Charging Ratepayers for Goodwill or Institutional Advertising, which prevents utilities from charging their customers for institutional advertising, which is public relations aimed at enhancing the company’s image
- #78 (Edwards): Labor Peace for Thermal Energy Networks, which would require management to stay neutral in unionization efforts on publicly owned network geothermal projects
Four were rejected without a vote:
- #26 (Gomez): Halting Gas Expansion, which prevents the expansion of gas infrastructure near EJ communities and plans for a just transition away from fossil fuels
- #62 (Howard): Data Centers, which establish safeguards around data center development for energy, water, health, and people’s bills
- #82 (Rausch): DPU Clarification, which would remove section allowing “renewable natural gas blending” in the gas distribution system for commercial customers
- #106 (Eldridge): Self-Attestation of Income, which keeps self-reporting for low and moderate-income households in Mass Save
Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough)’s amendment #77, which would have prevented utilities from imposing charges on all ratepayers to cover the cost of expanding natural gas lines, failed in a close vote of 19-20.
The vote was an interesting split, particularly because of the split in Senate Leadership. Majority Leader Cindy Creem (D-Newton), President Pro Tempore Will Brownsberger (D-Belmont), Assistant Majority Leader Mike Barrett (D-Lexington), Assistant Majority Leader Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett), Majority Whip Mike Rush (D-West Roxbury), and Assistant Majority Whip Julian Cyr (D-Truro) voted yes. However, Senate Ways & Means chair Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) and Assistant Majority Leader Joan Lovely (D-Salem) voted no.
In broad contours, the vote was a divide senators with greater loyalty to environmental advocates and senators with greater loyalty to trade unions or utility lobbyists. Most Senate progressives, obviously, fall into the first category, with the rare progressives voting NO being ones with particularly strong trade union ties. And surprise YES votes like Nick Collins (D-South Boston) and Mike Rush (D-West Roxbury) make sense in the context of them facing progressive primary challengers: primaries can do wonders for making elected officials pay more attention to their constituents than to utility lobbyists. We should have more of them.
Of the two amendments MPF opposed, Sen. Fernandes’s amendment #114, which took money from crucial programs for low-income housing decarbonization and clean energy, was rejected without a vote, and Sen. Brady’s amendment #139, which removed the reforms to the GSEP program, was withdrawn.
Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester)’s amendment (#17) to weaken Mass Save’s next three-year plan and create a series of commissions that try to blame renewable energy for higher energy costs failed 9 to 30, with Barry Finegold (D-Andover), Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), Michael Moore (D-Millbury), and John Velis (D-Westfield) joining Republicans.
