The Massachusetts Senate is expected to vote on a major energy bill that could leave ratepayers paying more for years to come.

A new analysis prepared for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation by energy policy expert Lisa Linowes finds that the bill keeps the same basic problem in place: Beacon Hill wants to make big energy decisions now, lock in long-term commitments, and push the financial risk onto taxpayers and ratepayers.

Read the full analysis here.

The Senate bill calls for at least 10 gigawatts of additional offshore wind and 10 gigawatts of solar by 2040. It also allows energy contracts lasting up to 30 years.

Even worse, the bill creates a process that could allow selected offshore wind developers to come back later and ask for higher prices before their projects are even up and running.

It also allows the state, meaning taxpayers, to front early development costs for offshore wind projects, including permitting, environmental studies, engineering, and grid-connection planning. If those projects fail, there is no clear way to recover those costs.

This reads more like an offshore wind developer wish list at the expense of taxpayers and ratepayers than a bill supposedly aimed at “getting costs off bills.”

Meanwhile, the Senate bill drops the House’s proposed $1 billion reduction to Mass Save and replaces it with oversight changes that do not address the biggest cost drivers.

This is how Beacon Hill hides the real cost of its energy agenda. Instead of paying for these policies through the state budget, lawmakers push the costs into different parts of utility bills, where they are harder for the public to see.

Before senators vote today, ratepayers deserve to know what is really in this bill.

It shifts risk onto taxpayers, expands long-term obligations, and doubles down on expensive and unreliable energy mandates