Mayor Wu tonight will introduce a $150-million program with Eversource and National Grid to subsidize the installation of 5,000 energy-saving heat pumps in Boston homes and small businesses now heated with oil and electricity - and weatherize 10,000 homes between now and 2027.
Wu will unveil the plan, scheduled to start up this fall, in her state of the city address, which starts at 7 p.m.
The city, the utilities and Mass Save will target homeowners who now use oil and electrical resistance to heat their homes, rather than those using natural gas, because, the city says, oil and traditional electrical heating are the most inefficient ways to heat. The city estimates that switching over 5,000 homes could save their owners a total of $300 million in energy costs over three years.
The announcement comes after the state Department of Public Utilities recently adopted a plan to slash Mass Save's budget - which comes from surcharges on electricity and natural-gas bills - by $500 million over the next three years.
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By Anonymous
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 11:16am
This is the very reason why peoples bills have skyrocketed, the delivery cost on your bill is directly funding these programs. People aren’t buying the wonky math anymore. End MassSave!
Fuck that noise.
By PastaBatman
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 12:28pm
Mass saves is just some trickle down economics bullshit. How about helping renters out?
Despite my misgivings about MassSave rentors are not left out
By Daan
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 1:42pm
Rentors can benefit. Everytime I've looked into MassSave I have come across ways that rentors can receive some benefits. Look into it. Despite the damage that MassSave contractors can do to property owners what they can do for rentors is far more limited and might save you cash (which you're already paying if you pay for electricity).
Agree that MassSave in its current incarnation is problematic
By Daan
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 1:41pm
On my last bill the "Evergy Efficiency Charge" was 8.3%. That's a lot. The managers of MassSave cannot be trusted to manage the program so that people using it don't wind up victims of the authorized vendors and contractors malfeasance and neglect. Massachusetts unfortunately has such weak civil laws that vendors can cause considerable damage and not suffer deserved punishment for their neglect. This is from direct experience.
If this program that Wu is pushing costs one cent from Boston tax payers then Wu is again proving herself to be an incompetent manager. MassSave has $4 billion in reserve. At least the Commonwealth's Dept. of Public Utilities recognized that ratepayers are paying way too much into the program and instructed the managers to reduce their budget to a measly $4.5 billion. Not one cent should come out of the city budget.
The bigger question is whether MassSave has actually acted as a buffer against rising energy costs? Then there is the question of how much their poor management has cost ratepayers?
I can answer from personal experience that their managerial incompetence cost me far more than it will ever save me.
Reducing energy use is a no-brainer (except for those without brains, such as the Presidential Orangutang (with apologies to real orangatangs). But when a program is no longer doing what it was set up to do, then it is time to end the current version and come up with a new version. Does MassSave need a $4.5 billion dollar budget? Where is the money actually going?
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