Every electric and gas customer in Massachusetts pays into Mass Save through a charge on their utility bill. The House wants to cut next year’s Mass Save budget by $1 billion. The Senate rejected that. Negotiators now have until the Legislature’s session ends on January 5, 2027 to decide whether to cut the program, cap it, or leave it alone, CommonWealth Beacon reported Wednesday.
At the same time, heating oil in Massachusetts is averaging $6.12 a gallon, up 74 percent from last year, according to state figures cited in the same report. Both sides say those prices prove their point. Here is what Mass Save is, who decides its budget under state law, what the fight is about, and what it could mean for your bill and your rebate.
What Mass Save is, and how you pay for it
Mass Save provides low- or no-cost energy efficiency work for homes and businesses: home energy assessments, insulation, smart thermostats and, increasingly, electric heat pumps. Electric and gas customers fund it through a surcharge on their bills.
Its budget has grown from about $3 billion for 2019 to 2021 to $4.5 billion for the current 2025 to 2027 cycle, CommonWealth Beacon reported. That was after the Department of Public Utilities cut $500 million from the utilities’ proposal in February 2025. The current plan aims to install heat pumps in another 87,000 homes over those three years, and offers no-cost weatherization regardless of income in 21 designated equity communities, including Brockton, Worcester, Springfield, Roxbury and Mattapan.
Who decides: the law behind the three-year plans
Mass Save is not an ordinary state budget line. Its plans are required by G.L. c. 25, § 21:
- The utilities write the plan. Every three years, the electric and gas companies must jointly prepare efficiency plans that “provide for the acquisition of all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective or less expensive than supply.”
- An advisory council reviews it. The draft goes to the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council by March 31. The council has three months to approve or comment.
- The DPU approves it. The final plan goes to the Department of Public Utilities by October 31. The DPU holds a public hearing and, within 120 days, must “approve, modify and approve, or reject and require the resubmission of the plan.” The DPU also approves “a fully reconciling funding mechanism,” which is the charge on your bill.
- Cost-effectiveness counts climate value. The statute requires that benefits include “the social value of greenhouse gas emissions reductions.” Any program sector with a benefit-cost ratio below 1.0 must be modified or terminated.
That is why the Legislature’s move matters. The usual budget-setters are the utilities, the council and the DPU. A statute passed in the energy bill could override that process, either by cutting the 2027 budget directly or by capping future plans.
The fight, in two numbers
The case for cutting. A coalition of business groups, the Massachusetts Coalition for Sustainable Energy, argues most of Mass Save’s benefits are no longer direct savings for ratepayers. It points to the DPU’s own order approving the current plan, which said program benefits now come mostly from emissions reductions that “may not be evident to customers on their bills,” and that “bill savings for program participants can no longer be assumed” when customers switch from gas to electric heat. “We need a reset,” said Bill Rennie of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.
The case against. An Acadia Center analysis found $8.4 billion in Mass Save spending from 2016 to 2024 produced $16 billion in savings, and that a $1 billion cut would cost customers $4.5 billion in lost benefits, CommonWealth Beacon reported. The Department of Energy Resources said the program saved more than $2.6 million in a single hour on the hottest day of 2025 by lowering peak demand. Opponents of the cut argue that with oil near double what state planners assumed last winter, heat pumps look better than ever.
The governor. At a press conference in Everett on Monday, Gov. Maura Healey declined several times to say where she stands on the cut, according to CommonWealth Beacon. Her own energy bill left the current Mass Save budget intact, but she backed a future cap this summer.
What a cut could mean for you
- Your bill. A cut to the 2027 budget would reduce what customers pay into the program up front. How much any single household would save depends on how the cut is spread across electric and gas customers, which no one has spelled out.
- Your project. CommonWealth Beacon reported that a sudden cut would force program administrators to scale back quickly, and that projects with customers would need to be put on pause. If you are in the middle of a Mass Save weatherization or heat pump job, or planning one, ask your contractor or Mass Save how a mid-cycle change would affect it.
- Rebates already promised. Nothing has been enacted. The current approved plan runs through 2027 until the Legislature changes it.
- The next plan. The utilities must file the draft 2028 to 2030 plan by the end of March 2027 and the final plan by the end of October 2027, so whatever the Legislature does will shape it.
Where this fits with the energy emergency
Mass Save is separate from the heating help announced this week. Healey’s energy emergency created a new heating oil benefit, explained in our energy emergency guide. Fuel assistance applications open November 1; see our fuel assistance guide. And our winter shutoff guide covers when your utility cannot cut off service.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mass Save being cut?
Not yet. The House approved a plan to cut next year’s budget by $1 billion, the Senate rejected it, and negotiators are working on a final energy bill. The legislative session ends January 5, 2027.
How do I pay for Mass Save?
Through a charge on your electric and gas bills. The DPU approves the funding mechanism under G.L. c. 25, section 21.
Who approves Mass Save’s budget?
The utilities prepare three-year plans with the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, and the Department of Public Utilities approves, modifies or rejects them. The Legislature can change the rules by statute.
Will my Mass Save rebate be canceled?
Nothing has been enacted. If the Legislature cuts the 2027 budget, administrators would have to scale back and some projects could be paused. Check with Mass Save or your contractor about a project in progress.
Sources: CommonWealth Beacon (Jordan Wolman), October 7, 2026, including figures it attributed to the Department of Public Utilities, the Department of Energy Resources, Acadia Center and state heating fuel data. G.L. c. 25, section 21 read at malegislature.gov. We have not independently reviewed the Acadia Center analysis or the DPU order. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.