Bay State Blues: Massachusetts’s Green Energy Agenda and Natural Gas Hate Have Left Utilities Unable To Deliver Affordable Power
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is as blue as it gets. Some 36 of 40 State Senate seats and 135 of 160 State House seats, plus all other elected State and Federal officials, are Democrats. And, it has the fifth-highest electric rates in the nation. Surprise, surprise!
Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research have put together a series of reports on the states, and here is what the Bay State version says (emphasis and paragraphing added):
OVERVIEW
Massachusetts has the fifth-highest electricity prices in the country, at 25.56 cents per kWh in 2025, rising 7.7% in real terms after accounting for inflation. The 2019 closure of Pilgrim Nuclear and the May 2024 retirement of the Mystic gas plant left the state dependent on a single LNG import facility for winter reliability and the Northeast pipeline corridor.
The state’s all-sectors generation mix is 65.4% natural gas, 24.6% utility-scale and small-scale solar, 3.0% hydroelectric, 3.2% biomass, and 1.5% oil. The state produces nothing from nuclear and coal, as the state’s last coal-fired plant, Brayton Point, and the largest in New England, closed in 2017.1
Massachusetts imports about half of its consumption from ISO-NE, and that dependence has only grown as in-state generation fell about 2,000 GWh since 2018. Clean energy mandates and the 2022 Clean Energy Act do not add to the state’s baseload generation capacity, rendering it consistently reliant on natural gas as its main energy source.
RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD
Massachusetts maintains a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), a Clean Energy Standard (CES), and a binding net-zero by 2050 goal.2Massachusetts requires 27% of electricity sales to be wind, solar, and other newer renewables in 2025, climbing one point annually thereafter. Massachusetts’ Clean Energy Standard escalates to reach 80% by 2050, counting the existing nuclear and large hydroelectric that the renewable mandate excludes.3
The state’s 2021 climate law sets economy-wide emissions limits of 50% below 1990 by 2030, 75% by 2040, and net-zero by 2050.4 The 2022 Clean Energy Act codified a 5,600 MW offshore wind procurement goal and removed the price cap that had required each procurement to beat the prior one to control costs.5 The 2024 Clean Energy Act added further procurement authority and extended allowable contract terms to 15-30 years for offshore wind and clean generation, and up to 30 years for storage.6
NET METERING
In Massachusetts, investor-owned utilities must offer net metering, though the 2016 Solar Energy Act cut new large private and community solar to a “market” credit worth 60% of full retail rates.7 However, residential systems up to 25 kW remain near full retail.
Eligible systems are capped at 2 MW for private facilities or 10 MW for public facilities, and aggregate participation is capped at 7% of each utility’s peak load for private facilities and 8% for public.8 On top of net metering, Massachusetts also pays a per-kWh incentive through its Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, which stands at $0.03 cents and doubles for low income households.9
CARBON PRICE/CAP AND TRADE
Massachusetts is the only New England state operating a state-only emissions cap on electric-generator emissions, on top of being a founding member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).10
The state cap, in force since 2018, requires in-state fossil-fired generators to hold allowances for both programs, which declines to about 80% below the 2018 starting cap by 2050.11 RGGI prices per ton of CO2 cleared at $24.99 in March 2026, and the state-only program added another $22 per ton in early 2026, compounding costs for ratepayers.12,13
The 2021 climate law requires utilities to add the “social value of greenhouse gas emissions reductions” when assessing energy efficiency and demand reduction programs.14 A 2024 law also means that agencies must consider GHG impacts when a gas company petitions to expand its service territory.15
DATA CENTER CONSUMER PROTECTION
Massachusetts has not enacted data-center-specific consumer-protection rules or consumer-regulated electricity. A House energy bill passed in February 2026 would direct the creation of a data center tariff; while that provision might protect consumers, the bill would also require facilities to be powered mainly by renewable energy, which forecloses the dispatchable generation that would serve them best.16At the time of this writing, the bill was recommended to pass in the Senate before the end of the 2026 session on July 31, 2026.17
NATURAL GAS ACCESS
Massachusetts is the structural choke point for natural gas access in New England, killing multiple major pipeline expansions. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s 2016 ruling in Engie Gas & LNG LLC v. Department of Public Utilities, which barred electric distribution companies from contracting for interstate gas pipeline capacity recovered through electric rates, killed the Access Northeast pipeline project.
The region’s last significant pipeline additions in 2017 and 2020, the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) and Atlantic Bridge projects, were still modest in capacity. Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline was canceled in 2016. During Winter Storm Fern, natural gas spot prices at the regional Algonquin Citygate hub reached $122.58/MMBtu on January 26, 2026, and oil-fired and dual-fuel generation overtook gas-fired supply in the ISO-NE stack during the storm’s coldest hours.18,19
Gas hookup moratoriums by Columbia Gas, Berkshire Gas, and Holyoke Gas & Electric affect at least 11 municipalities in Massachusetts. The DPU’s Future of Gas proceeding directs gas local distribution companies to consider non-gas alternatives before any new infrastructure cost recovery, prohibits ratepayer-funded marketing of natural gas, and requires Climate Compliance Plans every five years beginning in 2025.20,21
UTILITY NET ZERO PLEDGES
Massachusetts’s two major utilities have set voluntary corporate net-zero targets, while the state’s 2021 climate law makes net-zero-by-2050 a statutory obligation independent of any utility pledge. Eversource Energy pledges company-wide carbon neutrality by 2030, emissions cuts of 45% by 2035, and net-zero by 2050.22 National Grid has pledged net-zero by 2050 across U.S. and U.K. operations, with interim 2030 Scope 1 and 2 targets.23
ANALYSIS
Massachusetts’s staunch renewable energy agenda and a multi-decade campaign against natural gas pipeline expansion have left utilities unable to deliver affordable electricity. The Pilgrim closure and Mystic retirement deepened dependence on Everett LNG and on oil-fired generation during peak winter periods. Lawmakers are negotiating an energy affordability package, but the most it might do is slow the pace of Massachusetts’ renewable power requirements, not actually address the layers of mandates or its reflexive hostility to natural gas.
“Mass. Says Goodbye to Coal Power Generation,” Boston Globe, June 1, 2017, https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/06/01/brayton-point-mass-coal-burning-behemoth-shuts-down/UruPYKZnuQzFogEin4xZUP/story.html.
“Massachusetts Renewable Energy Requirement,” Colonial Power Group, accessed June 25, 2026, https://colonialpowergroup.com/massachusetts-renewable-energy-requirement/.
“Program Summaries,” Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, accessed June 25, 2026, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/program-summaries.
“Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050,” Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, last modified 2022, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2050.
Paul N. Belval, Eric K. Runge, and Margaret Czepiel, “Massachusetts Enacts Important Energy Legislation – An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind,” Day Pitney LLP, August 18, 2022, https://www.daypitney.com/insights/publications/2022/08/18-ma-energy-legislation-clean-energy-offshore-wind.
Massachusetts, An Act Promoting a Clean Energy Grid, Advancing Equity and Protecting Ratepayers, Acts of 2024, Chapter 239, https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter239.
“Net Metering,” Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), last updated January 6, 2026, https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/detail/281.
“Net Metering Guide,” Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Electric Power Division, last modified November 17, 2025, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/net-metering-guide#2-net-metering-credit-calculation-and-billing.
“Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART),” Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, accessed June 25, 2026, https://www.mass.gov/solar-massachusetts-renewable-target-smart.
“Electricity Generator Emissions Limits (310 CMR 7.74),” Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, accessed June 25, 2026, https://www.mass.gov/guides/electricity-generator-emissions-limits-310-cmr-774.
Potomac Economics, Quarterly Report on the Electricity Generator Emissions Limits Program (310 CMR 7.74): Third Quarter 2025, prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, November 2025, https://www.mass.gov/doc/market-monitor-quarterly-report-2025-q3/download.
“RGGI Auction Proceeds & Investments,” Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, Policy, Planning & Analysis Division, accessed June 25, 2026, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/rggi-auction-proceeds-investments.
Potomac Economics, Market Monitor Report on the Electricity Generator Emissions Limits Program (310 CMR 7.74): Auction 2026-1, prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, December 12, 2025, https://www.mass.gov/doc/market-monitor-report-auction-2026-1/download.
Massachusetts, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy, Acts of 2021, Chapter 8, approved March 26, 2021, https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2021/Chapter8.
“Sweeping Climate Bill Passes the Massachusetts Legislature,” Massachusetts General Court Press Room, November 14, 2024, https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=157.
Jordan Wolman, “House Passes Landmark Energy Bill with Deep Cuts to Mass Save, Sending It to Senate,” CommonWealth Beacon, February 26, 2026, https://commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/house-passes-landmark-energy-bill-with-deep-cuts-to-mass-save-sending-it-to-senate/.
Massachusetts, House, An Act Relative to Energy Affordability, Clean Power and Economic Competitiveness, H.5175, 194th General Court, passed to be engrossed February 26, 2026, https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5175.
Andrew Baker, “Spot Prices Wrap: Regional Natural Gas Hubs Surpass $100 Amid Winter Storm Carnage,” Natural Gas Intelligence, January 26, 2026, https://naturalgasintel.com/news/spot-prices-wrap-regional-natural-gas-hubs-surpass-100-amid-winter-storm-carnage/.
Kassia Micek and Humza Mirza, “Oil Generation Tops ISO New England Fuel Mix as Power Prices Hit Record High,” S&P Global Commodity Insights, January 30, 2026, https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/electric-power/013026-oil-generation-tops-iso-new-england-fuel-mix-as-power-prices-hit-record-high.
“Department of Public Utilities Issues Order 20-80,” press release, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, December 6, 2023, https://www.mass.gov/news/department-of-public-utilities-issues-order-20-80.
Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Investigation by the Department of Public Utilities on Its Own Motion into the Role of Gas Local Distribution Companies as the Commonwealth Achieves Its Target 2050 Climate Goals, D.P.U. 20-80-B, Order on Regulatory Principles and Framework, December 6, 2023, https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DPU-20-80-B-Order-12.6.2313.pdf.
“Climate Commitment,” Eversource, accessed June 25, 2026, https://www.eversource.com/residential/about/sustainability/climate-commitment.
National Grid, Our Net Zero Plan, November 2021, https://www.nationalgridus.com/media/pdfs/our-company/net-zero/net-zero-one-pager-sm.pdf.
#Massachusetts #BayState #ElectricRates #ElectricBills #BlueStates
Oh the joy that all of this “green energy” has left behind. The incredible thing is how ignorant all these politicians are about what they have created.
This article misses the bigger story. Massachusetts has had among the highest rates in the US for more than three decades, well before it began its renewable energy build up.