Achieving energy affordability in Massachusetts

Rising energy bills are becoming a defining budget challenge for institutions across Massachusetts. For colleges and universities in particular, many of which operate energy-intensive campuses with aging infrastructure, utility costs are increasingly shaping operating decisions, capital planning, and long-term financial strategy.

At GreenerU, energy affordability in Massachusetts is not an abstract goal. Our work focuses on helping organizations reduce operating costs by improving how buildings use energy through lighting upgrades, envelope improvements, ventilation strategies, and heating and cooling system optimization. These investments lower energy waste, improve comfort and indoor air quality, and produce savings that persist year after year.

Many of these projects have been supported by Massachusetts’ long-standing emphasis on efficiency and clean energy. Over time, those policies have helped reduce demand, limit exposure to fuel price volatility, and avoid more expensive system upgrades. As attention increasingly turns to affordability, it is worth examining what actually drives energy costs and which strategies are most effective at controlling them.

Addressing energy affordability in Massachusetts does not require stepping away from efficiency or clean energy. In many cases, the opposite is true. The most durable cost reductions tend to come from measures that align building operations with how the energy system functions as a whole.

Focus on when energy is used, not only how much

Electricity does not cost the same at all times. Periods of high demand like hot summer afternoons or cold winter evenings require the system to rely on its most expensive resources. These peak periods have an outsized influence on overall costs, including the rates paid by large customers.

For campuses with centralized plants, laboratories, residence halls, and data-rich facilities, peak demand charges can account for a significant share of monthly electricity bills. Reducing load during these periods can lower costs not only for individual institutions but across the system as a whole.

Many efficiency investments that meaningfully reduce peak demand, such as controls, thermal storage, or targeted electrification strategies, are undervalued when incentives focus primarily on total energy savings. Better alignment between incentives and peak demand reduction would improve project economics while helping contain system-wide costs.

Strengthen consumer protections in competitive supply markets

Massachusetts allows customers to purchase electricity from third-party suppliers rather than directly from regulated utilities. While intended to offer choice, recent analysis from the Attorney General’s office indicates that many customers have paid substantially more through these arrangements, often without receiving additional benefits.

The financial impacts have fallen disproportionately on low-income households and communities of color. Strengthening transparency and consumer protections in these markets would provide direct bill relief without reducing investment in efficiency or clean energy.

Bring lower-cost solar online faster

Massachusetts remains heavily reliant on imported fuels for both electricity and building heating. This dependence exposes institutions to fuel price volatility and sends energy dollars out of state.

Solar power offers a different profile: it can be deployed relatively quickly, has predictable costs, and keeps economic benefits local. Yet many commercial and institutional solar projects are delayed by siting, permitting, and utility interconnection backlogs. It is not uncommon for completed systems to wait months before being allowed to operate.

Reducing these delays by streamlining permitting, modernizing interconnection processes, and clearing existing backlogs would allow lower-cost electricity to reach the grid sooner. For campuses pursuing on-site or nearby solar, these changes directly affect project timelines and financial performance.

Expand access to clean power from Canada

New England has long planned to diversify its electricity supply with large-scale clean resources. While offshore wind development faces near-term uncertainty, neighboring regions continue to bring online hydropower and offshore wind resources that could support Massachusetts’ needs.

Additional access to Canadian hydropower and wind can provide reliable electricity during high-demand periods, helping stabilize prices and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. For large electricity users, these resources can play an important role in moderating long-term cost exposure.

Plan ahead for data center growth

Electricity demand from data centers is growing rapidly nationwide, and projects in Massachusetts are already beginning to affect local grids. These facilities operate continuously and place significant demands on power infrastructure.

Without clear expectations, new data centers risk increasing system costs that are ultimately borne by other customers, including institutions with limited ability to shift or reduce load. Requiring large facilities to secure their own clean power—through on-site generation or dedicated procurement—would limit upward pressure on rates while supporting additional energy development.

Use electric vehicles to reduce, not increase, grid costs

Electric vehicle adoption is accelerating, including on college and university campuses. While EVs increase electricity demand, charging is inherently flexible and can often be shifted to times when the grid is underutilized and electricity is less expensive.

As campuses expand charging for faculty, staff, and students, unmanaged charging can unintentionally increase peak demand. With smart controls and appropriate incentives, charging can be aligned with lower-cost periods—and EV batteries can provide backup power or grid support.

Done well, EV infrastructure can support sustainability goals without increasing operating costs.

Keep ratepayer dollars focused on ratepayer interest

Utilities play a central role in maintaining reliable service, and their costs are ultimately paid by customers. Ensuring that ratepayer funds are used to support system operations and customer value rather than activities that increase long-term costs is an important part of affordability.

Other states have taken steps to limit the use of ratepayer dollars for certain forms of advocacy, producing direct savings and improving alignment between utility spending and public interest outcomes.

A practical path forward for energy affordability in Massachusetts

Affordability, reliability, and emissions reduction are closely linked. Measures that reduce waste, smooth demand, and bring lower-cost resources online tend to deliver benefits across all three.

Short-term savings achieved by stepping away from these strategies are often offset by higher costs and greater volatility over time. Massachusetts has built a strong foundation, and with targeted adjustments, it can address rising energy bills while continuing to modernize its energy system.

For colleges, universities, and other large building owners, the most effective affordability strategies are those that reflect how the energy system actually works and that position institutions to manage costs over the long term.

GreenerU welcomes continued collaboration with campus leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders focused on practical solutions that deliver real, lasting savings. If your institution is looking to better understand its energy costs or explore strategies to reduce them, we’re happy to be a resource.

  Back to Articles