Massachusetts’ Energy Efficiency Resource Standard is considered to be one of the most effective and ambitious in the nation. It was established by Massachusetts’ Green Communities Act, which requires that electric and gas utilities procure all cost-effective energy efficiency. Section 11 of the Act requires electric and gas utilities to secure energy efficiency resources that are cost-effective or less expensive than supply as a resource of first recourse, before more expensive generation resources can be purchased. This requirement is administered on a three-year planning cycle by the state’s PUC. Yearly incremental energy savings targets began at 1.4% in 2010, ramping up to 3.18% in 2017. Current targets for 2019-21, the fourth three-year planning cycle, are set at ~2.7% of retail sales, one of the highest targets in the country. The state’s natural gas targets began at 0.63% in 2010, and are set at 1.25% of retail sales for 2019-21. Overall, the fully funded 2019-2021 electric and natural gas efficiency procurement plans will yield net consumer benefits of nearly $8.56 billion.
In 2018, the Act to Advance Clean Energy expanded the scope of energy efficiency under the EERS to include beneficial electrification, as well as active demand management, renewables, storage, EV charging, and emerging technologies.
For more background, see the attached report on Next Generation EERS’s from ACEEE (2019), which includes extensive reference to Massachusetts’ program throughout, as well as a case study at page 60.