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Healey pitches energy affordability bill, Canadian hydro import and winter bill cuts
Summary
Governor Maura Healey proposed an energy affordability bill she said would lower costs and expand supply, cited a new Canadian hydroelectric line supplying roughly 20% of Massachusetts' needs, and pledged one-time cuts to electricity and gas bills for February–March.
Governor Maura Healey told the joint convention that reducing energy costs is central to her affordability agenda and outlined a legislative and administrative push to expand supply and cut bills for consumers.
"I filed a energy affordability bill, and that bill will get us more power, get cost down, and save ratepayers $13,000,000,000," Healey said, without providing a bill number in the address. She described an "all of the above" approach — wind, solar, hydro, gas and nuclear — and said her proposal would require utilities to seek the lowest-cost power for ratepayers.
Healey said the administration recently "flipped the switch on a hydroelectric line" from Canada that is now providing power to the state and that it will meet roughly 20% of Massachusetts' electricity needs and save about $50 million. She said she will oppose any large utility rate increases and has directed utilities to justify every fee on customer bills.
For immediate relief, Healey announced that the administration will cut electric bills by 25% and gas bills by 10% during February and March to provide breathing room to households facing high winter energy costs.
The address included no statutory citation for the energy bill and did not provide the legislative text or fiscal detail for the claimed $13 billion savings; those details were presented as administration estimates and proposals that will require legislative and regulatory follow-up.
