Sustainability council votes to draft letter urging lawmakers not to cut Mass Save funding

The Lowell Sustainability Council voted to draft a letter asking state legislators not to cut Mass Save funding, citing concern that reductions could weaken local energy-efficiency programs. Municipal energy manager (Speaker 6) volunteered to draft the letter and take the lead on writing it; a committee member seconded the motion, and the council approved it by voice vote.

Council members said they want evidence to support advocacy. The body invited Victor Vargas, the city energy advocate, to the April meeting and asked him to bring program data for 2022, 2023 and the current year — including the number of residents signed up for the discount rate, aggregation sign-ups, arrears-management or bill-forgiveness interventions, and fuel-assistance figures — so the council can quantify local benefits of Mass Save-related programs.

Committee members described the possible effects of state cuts in stark terms. One committee member warned that a proposed $1,000,000,000 reduction in funding “would cripple an entire delivery system,” and urged the council to press the city manager and delegation for support. Municipal energy manager (Speaker 6) said he would draft a template letter for the council to edit before formally transmitting it through the city manager’s office.

The chair (Speaker 2) and staff (Speaker 3) clarified process: any letter from the council will be routed to the city manager for submission to the delegation. Members discussed next steps including preparing a draft in advance of the April meeting so the council can edit and vote on a final version during the meeting.

The council directed staff to record the request for specific data from Victor Vargas and to place the draft-letter item on the April agenda for consideration and potential final vote.