New Report Identifies State Policy as the Primary Driver of Soaring Electric Bills

A new white paper released by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation finds that the steep rise in Massachusetts electric bills is driven largely by state-mandated climate and energy programs, not by utility mismanagement. The brief, Massachusetts Electric Costs: The Real Source of the Problem, authored by energy policy analyst Lisa Linowes, details how policy surcharges embedded in electric rates have quadrupled since 2014 and now account for nearly one-third of every dollar on residential bills.

According to the report, the average monthly household bill has climbed from $113 in 2014 to $204 in early 2025, an increase nearly double the rate of inflation. During the same period, costs tied to renewable mandates, carbon programs, and energy-efficiency surcharges grew from $15 to $59 per month.

“These findings confirm what many ratepayers already suspect. Massachusetts’ affordability crisis isn’t being driven by utilities, but by state law. Billions in policy charges are baked into the rates, and unless the Legislature reforms these mandates, costs will keep rising no matter how efficiently utilities operate,” said Paul Diego Craney, a Executive Director of the Fiscal Alliance Foundation.

The release of the Foundation’s white paper comes just weeks after Governor Maura Healey called on state regulators to “slash” unnecessary charges from utility bills and accelerate solar expansion across the Commonwealth. However, the paper’s analysis shows that it is precisely these state-mandated programs, including solar incentives, renewable mandates, and energy-efficiency surcharges, that have driven the steepest cost increases. The report cautions that adding more solar through expensive incentive structures will not lower bills but will instead deepen the affordability crisis by layering additional costs onto already overburdened ratepayers.

“Governor Healey’s plan to expand solar while promising lower rates contradicts the very data her own regulators collect. More intermittent, taxpayer subsidized solar projects don’t cut costs, they expand the same policy surcharges that have pushed electricity prices up by nearly 80 percent in the last decade,” noted Craney.

The paper highlights that Massachusetts ratepayers now fund roughly $4.4 billion annually in climate-related programs including the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Mass Save, and solar incentive programs. Yet there is no clear correlation between these surcharges and regional carbon reductions. Most emission declines have come from market shifts, such as coal retirements, natural gas efficiency and federal rules, rather than from state programs.

The report concludes that Governor Healey’s recent call for a “comprehensive rate review” by the Department of Public Utilities will not solve the problem, since the DPU cannot modify costs created by statute. True affordability relief, the study argues, requires legislative reform to cap or consolidate overlapping climate mandates.

“Massachusetts has built one of the most complex and expensive climate-policy frameworks in the country yet remains among the least transparent about total costs. This report is a roadmap for reform. Ratepayers deserve to know what they’re paying for and whether it’s making any measurable difference,” said Craney.

The white paper calls on state leaders to publish annual cost-and-performance reports for every major energy program and to coordinate across New England to ensure ratepayers see genuine value for the billions collected in the name of decarbonization.

The full report, Massachusetts Electric Costs: The Real Source of the Problem, authored by Lisa Linowes, is available by clicking here.