Massachusetts House Passes Clean Energy Bill, Making Important Progress on Local Solar, but Misdirecting Budget Cuts

The Massachusetts House passed its energy affordability bill, H.5151, last night. The legislation includes key solar provisions that would help meet Massachusetts’ climate goals and foster affordability, including smart solar permitting, solar for affordable housing, flexible interconnection, balcony solar, municipal net metering improvements, and virtual power plants; however, the bill makes budget cuts to Mass Save by $1B with no cuts to our ballooning subsidies of gas infrastructure. While containing many forward-thinking measures and vastly improved from its earlier draft, there is more to be done to address the real reasons behind rising energy costs. 

Vote Solar’s Northeast Regional Director, Elena Weissmann, issued the following statement: 

“The climate omnibus bill contains critical solar policy provisions that will help make our grid more reliable and more affordable. We are grateful to lawmakers for advancing policies that recognize the important role solar plays in strengthening our energy system, including a key amendment enabling solar procurement for public affordable housing. In the near term, these measures will reduce our reliance on costly fossil fuels and limit the need for expensive infrastructure. Over the long term, they represent an important step toward achieving our clean energy goals. By utilizing clean energy solutions like solar, we can create a more resilient energy grid and help lower energy costs for everyone—even for those without solar themselves. 

“At the same time, the proposed funding cuts to the Commonwealth’s nation-leading energy efficiency program would meaningfully harm our state’s efforts to address the energy affordability crisis. Maintaining strong investments in proven programs like Mass Save is essential to lowering energy bills and reducing demand on our energy grid. As this process continues, we look forward to collaborating with lawmakers to ensure that they address the true drivers of rising energy bills, leading Massachusetts toward a clean energy future that works for everyone.”