With the Massachusetts House of Representatives’ passage of the controversial climate bill in a highly irregular lame duck session, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance called the legislature to task for the extremely high price tag that the scheme will cost to ratepayers.
While the bill, which passed 125-17, claims to address the clean energy transition, its passage demonstrates a troubling disregard for ratepayers who will ultimately bear the financial burden of this legislation. With no clear leadership willing to protect Massachusetts residents from the soaring costs of this ill-advised bill, local communities and everyday ratepayers are left vulnerable to unprecedented financial strain.
One key provision of the bill will require utility companies to purchase large-scale battery storage that could cost between $10 and $25 billion over the coming years. This cost will be passed along to the ratepayers. The lower estimate alone amounts to roughly 17% of the current state budget—a massive expenditure that will hit ratepayers directly. This price tag doesn’t include additional transmission and infrastructure costs, nor does it account for future expenses necessary to scale storage capabilities to meet even more ambitious, long-term climate targets.
“The Massachusetts legislature has chosen to saddle ratepayers with billions in new costs, all while failing to provide even a semblance of accountability or transparency around the actual benefits of this mandate. There is no one in leadership in the House standing up for the hard-working people and businesses who will be forced to shoulder this burden. This bill sacrifices fiscal responsibility in favor of a rushed ideological agenda, designed almost entirely to placate activists, that offers few real benefits.”
Beyond the financial implications, this legislation takes power away from local communities in citing and permitting, forcing them to accept large costly infrastructure, including lithium-ion battery storage sites—each a significant fire hazard with serious safety concerns. These batteries, which would require hundreds of acres of land, are fire-prone and challenging to extinguish once ignited while also emitting toxic fumes. Communities across Massachusetts could be left to grapple with the impacts of these installations without local decision-making power or adequate safety assurances.
As Massachusetts accelerates toward achieving the legislature’s clean energy mandates, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance urges the state legislature to carefully consider the unintended consequences and lasting impacts of such sweeping arbitrary mandates. In a time of economic uncertainty, ratepayers deserve transparency, accountability, and a voice in decisions that affect their communities and household budgets.
“MassFiscal is calling on state officials to protect ratepayers by reconsidering this legislation and ensuring that any transition to clean energy infrastructure prioritizes the ratepayers, public safety, fiscal responsibility, and the rights of local communities. The legislature is pigheadedly continuing down a path that will bring real misery to the people of our state. The people of the Commonwealth are in desperate need of a leadership in the legislature that will stand up for them against the entrenched special interests that continue to push through these ill-conceived, disastrously expensive policies,” closed Craney.