Massachusetts put climate policy ahead of people; now they are paying for it.
Boston Herald (1/7/26) op-ed: "Massachusetts has embraced some of the most aggressive climate and energy policies nationwide, and electricity prices in the Commonwealth remain among the highest in the United States. That is not a coincidence. Policy choices drive outcomes, and Massachusetts is no exception. High electricity prices are not an inevitability. Recent analysis from the Institute for Energy Research and Always On Energy Research finds that states with electricity prices above the national average are disproportionately Democratic-led states that rely on aggressive energy mandates. These policies reshape generation mixes, limit supply options, and impose compliance costs that ultimately show up in consumers’ electric bills. Massachusetts fits this pattern closely... Recent reporting by the CommonWealth Beacon underscores how far Massachusetts’ climate framework has drifted from real-world enforcement. Court records indicate that a 2017 regulation requiring annual emissions reductions from state-owned vehicle fleets was never followed by any state agency. Regulators failed for years to collect required reports or take enforcement action, even through multiple administrations. The lapse is especially striking given that the regulation stemmed from a Supreme Judicial Court order meant to strengthen the state’s climate program. Consumers, meanwhile, are being asked to absorb the costs of aggressive climate mandates, including electric vehicle requirements and restrictive building codes, while state agencies have failed to comply with their own mandates. That inconsistency matters because energy costs are real. They reflect cumulative policy decisions — mandates, permitting delays, infrastructure constraints, and limits on supply. When policy overrides market signals, costs rise, and reliability suffers."
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