Tuesday, December 9, 2025

The Download: Healey’s energy affordability push faces test in one of Massachusetts’s poorest communities

 

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NEW CODCAST: Jennifer Smith talks Boston property tax rates with Greg Maynard, executive director of the Boston Policy Institute, the struggling commercial sector, and why the issue has led to public sparring between Mayor Michelle Wu and a state senator. 

CAMPAIGN: Two Democrats have jumped into the race to fill a House seat representing Cape Ann on Beacon Hill, reports Alison Kuznitz with the State House News Service, after Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante passed away on Thanksgiving. A timeline for a special election has not yet been announced. 


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OPINION: Two years ago, Massachusetts passed the most ambitious data equity law in the country, but there’s been little progress in getting the policy in place, with residents continuing to suffer the consequences, write Jaya Savita of the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network and Danielle Kim of the Asian Community Fund.

EXCERPT: 

These provisions require all state agencies that already collect race and ethnicity information to further disaggregate it by every major Asian, Pacific Islander, Black and African American, Latino, and white or Caucasian subgroup. This is vitally important given the growing diversity of Massachusetts residents and the persistence of significant disparities, both among different racial categories and within communities themselves.  

For example, consider educational outcomes among Black residents. Nearly half of Nigerian residents in Greater Boston hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 15 percent of Black Haitians and 10 percent of Cape Verdean residents. Among Latino residents, approximately two-thirds of Guatemalan and Salvadoran workers in Massachusetts are limited English proficient—compared to fewer than 20 percent of Puerto Rican residents, contributing to major disparities in employment and economic outcomes.  

A gas company serving one of the state’s most economically distressed areas is looking to dramatically raise rates, prompting intense backlash and raising scrutiny of its spending habits.  

Liberty Utilities, which services a small southeastern pocket of Massachusetts, filed its rate hike request in June and is asking the Department of Public Utilities for permission to raise gas rates by about 55 percent on average. DPU now has until May 31 to make a decision.   

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The company delivers gas for heating and cooking to customers in Fall River, the tenth-largest city in Massachusetts with a median household income less than half of the statewide average, along with eight surrounding towns like North Attleboro and Westport. 

“No matter how you slice it, for my district, this is exorbitant,” said Rep. Carole Fiola, a Democrat who represents Fall River. “This was a shock to a lot of people. It will be very difficult for many people to afford this increase.”  

It’s also a direct shot at Gov. Maura Healey’s affordability push.  

Healey has based her energy agenda on a drumbeat of policy steps aimed at addressing high gas and electric costs and reducing or removing charges from utility bills to save ratepayers money. Liberty’s rate increase, if approved, would prompt dramatic sticker shock in a Gateway City and directly fly in the face of Healey’s effort.  

DPU declined to comment on the rate case.  

Pamela Bellings, a spokesperson for Liberty, which is owned by Canada-based Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., defended the rate request in a statement, saying that the company has made “substantial investments” to comply with new pipeline safety regulations and enhance system reliability. Liberty serves customers in New Hampshire, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, in addition to Massachusetts.  

“We recognize the financial challenges many in our community are facing and have carefully assessed ways to smooth the impact to customer bills,” Bellings said. “A rate adjustment is necessary to help maintain compliance with all new regulations and continue delivering safe and reliable service to customers.”  

The company is now negotiating the rate hike proposal with the state attorney general and other groups. For now, though, Liberty ratepayers are in the lurch.  

Liberty’s rate hike request would raise monthly bills anywhere from $33 to $103 a month depending on the customer’s location and income level in order to recover nearly $95 million. The company last raised rates a decade ago, in 2015, it said in its DPU filing, and the majority of this request is to recover costs for pipe replacement and repair that are associated with the state’s Gas System Enhancement Plan, which have ballooned in recent years.   

A BUDGET GAMBLE: For the second year in a row, the Legislature has directed gaming revenue used for mitigating the local impacts of casinos into its own coffers, leaving city and town leaders frustrated amid worsening municipal budget strains. Hallie Claflin has more.  

OPINION: As we head into winter and heating bills climb, chapter director of Sierra Club Massachusetts Vick Mohanka says leaders on Beacon Hill should stop quibbling about distant 2030 climate goals and instead focus on the root causes of rising energy costs today: runaway utility infrastructure spending, corporate greed, and an over-reliance on methane gas. 

WIND: A federal judge in Massachusetts threw out President Trump’s executive order blocking offshore wind energy. (WBUR) 


WBUR OFFERED THIS PREVIOUS ARTICLE: 

7 numbers that explain offshore wind's impact in New England


CANNABIS: With new rules around the social consumption of marijuana due to get approval this month, the South Coast weighs its options. (The New Bedford Light

DRUGS: The arrest of Healey aide LaMar Cook over drug trafficking started with an investigation around a suspicious package. (The Boston Globe – paywall)  

DONATIONS: Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins is now accepting political donations to help pay for his legal defense in a federal case. (WBUR) 

CONVENTION CENTER: Two Beacon Hill investigations are swirling around the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and placing its CEO in the hot seat. (Boston Herald – paywall)  

 
 
 
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The Download: Healey’s energy affordability push faces test in one of Massachusetts’s poorest communities

  New from  CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST:  Jennifer Smith  talks Boston property tax rates  with Greg Maynard, executive director of the ...