Ahead of Governor Maura Healey’s State of the Commonwealth address, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance today criticized the administration’s announcement of temporary electric and gas bill reductions, warning that the proposal underscores the deeper failure of Beacon Hill’s energy policies.

“Massachusetts families do not need two months of temporary relief highlighted in a major speech, they need permanent, structural reform. If the governor were serious about lowering energy bills, she would start by reversing the policies that made them unaffordable in the first place,” said Paul Diego Craney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

Under the administration’s plan, $180 million in ratepayer dollars will be used to offset utility bills for February and March, a move MassFiscal says is a slight of hand gimmick that doesn’t address the root causes of high prices.

“Covering energy bills with money already recovered from ratepayers is not affordability reform, it’s cost shifting. Families still pay either way, and once the deferrals expire, the same broken energy system remains,” said Craney.

MassFiscal noted that Massachusetts continues to face some of the highest electricity and heating costs in the nation due to years of opposition to reliable energy infrastructure, rigid net-zero climate mandates, and a regulatory system that layers non-energy policy costs onto monthly utility bills.

“For years, Beacon Hill blocked natural gas infrastructure, celebrated pipeline cancellations, and piled mandate after mandate onto monthly bills. Now those same leaders are using ratepayer dollars to temporarily mask the consequences in an election year,” said Craney.

The organization warned that short-term discounts announced ahead of the governor’s annual address cannot replace meaningful reform.

“Energy affordability cannot be solved with cost shifting and political theater. Until leaders are willing to admit that their own policies are driving prices higher, Massachusetts families will continue paying some of the highest energy bills in the country,” closed Craney.

MassFiscal has repeatedly called on Massachusetts leaders to repeal the NetZero by 2050 climate mandate law to drive down energy bills.