Don’t let the rhetoric from lawmakers fool you. Despite elected officials feigning outrage in the media over exorbitant energy bills, the real reason for those cost hikes can be attributed to state policies implemented by Beacon Hill.

Actual energy use and the delivery charges are not what is driving up residents and businesses’ energy bills this winter. In fact, most of the additional cost is resulting from states directives forcing utilities to implement state mandated programs, mainly Mass Save. Ratepayers currently pay a monthly surcharge on their energy bills to fund rebates and incentives to subsidize the purchase and conversion to more energy efficient appliances and systems. The cost of this program rose dramatically over the past year. The Boston Globe reported these policy initiatives account for 29% of the average electricity bill and doubled over the last decade.

Through various testimony and public comment over the years, NFIB warned policymakers these overly ambitious climate proposals would result in higher energy bills for residents and small businesses. We’ve stated that the rush to electrification will only make it harder for small businesses to compete with parts of the country that enjoy far cheaper energy prices. Now lawmakers are trying to fix a problem they created. But rather attacking the root cause of the price spikes by repealing some of their green energy mandates, they are simply putting a band-aid on the problem by having the Department of Public Utilities order energy companies to reduce rates temporarily and cut $500 million from the Mass Save program. If lawmakers were serious about reducing energy bills, they’d rollback the many mandates they’ve enacted over the last decade that are both unrealistic and hurting consumers’ wallets.