DCS

Energy savings in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts energy advisory and savings.

Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil operating under Mass Save, with ISO-New England capacity stacking and aggressive commercial efficiency funding.

Territory profile

State
MA
Market
Deregulated supply market
Utilities tracked
6
Programs tracked
6

Massachusetts commercial energy strategy operates under one of the most coordinated efficiency program environments in the country. Mass Save (the statewide program funded by Eversource, National Grid, Unitil, and others) routinely covers 40 to 75 percent of project cost on qualifying commercial measures; the Strategic Energy Management track funds embedded energy manager engagement on multi-year commitments. ISO-New England Forward Capacity Market participation through aggregator relationships produces capacity payments for commercial sites with at least 100 kW of dispatchable load. Connected Solutions (Eversource and National Grid) pays $200 to $275 per kW per year for battery storage participation in summer peak demand events. For new commercial solar projects, the SMART program sets compensation rates by project size and location with adders for storage pairing. Developments CS works across Eversource, National Grid, Unitil, and the municipal light plants with Mass Save as the centerpiece of most engagements.

Major utilities we work with

Utilities we track in Massachusetts

Each utility carries its own tariff book, demand structure, and program environment. The engagement maps every account against every applicable schedule.

  • Eversource Energy

    combined

    Largest combined utility in Massachusetts, serving most of Eastern and Central MA on electric and gas. Commercial tariff schedules G-2, G-3, G-4 set distinct demand structures.

  • National Grid Massachusetts

    combined

    Electric and gas service across most of the rest of Massachusetts including Worcester and surrounding areas. Commercial tariffs G-2, G-3 set the standard structure.

  • Unitil

    combined

    Smaller combined utility serving Fitchburg and surrounding Northern Massachusetts. Distinct rate book from Eversource and National Grid.

  • Municipal light plants

    electric

    Approximately 40 municipal light plants across Massachusetts (Belmont, Concord, Reading, Wellesley, others). Each operates under its own rate structure outside Mass Save.

  • Cape Light Compact (aggregation)

    electric

    Municipal aggregation serving Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. Commercial accounts in the aggregation have separate supply structure from default service.

  • Liberty Utilities (gas)

    gas

    Natural gas distribution in parts of Massachusetts including the Merrimack Valley. Commercial rate structure distinct from Eversource and National Grid gas.

Programs we capture

Key Massachusetts programs the engagement stacks into

State and utility programs that stack with the underlying tariff and procurement work to compound the annualized recovery.

  • Rebate

    Mass Save

    Statewide energy efficiency program funded by all Massachusetts electric and gas utilities under DPU oversight. Commercial rebates routinely cover 40 to 75 percent of project cost on qualifying measures (lighting, HVAC, controls, refrigeration, custom engineered, retrocommissioning).

  • Rebate

    Mass Save Strategic Energy Management (SEM) for commercial accounts

    Two-year engagement track within Mass Save for commercial accounts pursuing ongoing efficiency improvement. Pays for an embedded energy manager role on qualifying projects.

  • Rebate

    Massachusetts Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program

    Successor to net metering for new commercial solar projects. Sets compensation rates by project size and location; pairs cleanly with on-site storage for additional adders.

  • Demand response

    ISO-New England Forward Capacity Market participation

    ISO-NE capacity market participation through aggregator relationships. Commercial sites with at least 100 kW of dispatchable load qualify for forward capacity payments.

  • Demand response

    Connected Solutions battery storage demand response

    Eversource and National Grid program paying for battery storage participation in summer peak demand events. Commercial storage projects earn $200 to $275 per kW per year for committed participation.

  • Rebate

    Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Green Communities grants

    State grants for municipal and public sector energy projects. Qualifying municipalities access funding for efficiency, renewable, and resilience projects on a competitive cycle.

What an engagement looks like

How a Massachusetts engagement runs

A Massachusetts engagement begins with the Mass Save program book. Eversource, National Grid, Unitil, and the Cape Light Compact each run their commercial efficiency offerings through the Mass Save umbrella, with DPU-mandated funding levels that make the program one of the best-funded in the country. The first deliverable is a measure-by-measure analysis of the commercial accounts against the active Mass Save program book to identify prescriptive and custom incentive opportunities.

Tariff classification (Eversource G-2/G-3/G-4, National Grid G-2/G-3) is run alongside the program work. Demand-billed commercial schedules require interval data analysis; the schedule election decision depends on the demand profile, load factor, and the relative rate structure of the alternatives.

Demand response stacking is the third lever. ISO-NE Forward Capacity Market enrollment through aggregator relationships, plus Connected Solutions for accounts with battery storage, produces material ongoing revenue. Connected Solutions in particular pays $200 to $275 per kW per year for committed storage capacity; the program income alone covers a significant portion of storage finance cost on qualifying installations. For NYC-style large-portfolio strategies, the methodology adapts cleanly to Boston, Worcester, and Springfield commercial real estate.

Sample finding patterns

What the pipeline catches in Massachusetts

Plausible examples drawn from the pattern types most commonly caught in Massachusetts. Specific clients are not named; utilities, tariff codes, and recovery ranges are. Recovery ranges are stated as ranges (typically the 25th to 75th percentile of the relevant cohort), never as point estimates.

  • Mass Save retrocommissioning

    Eversource Energy

    A Boston-area commercial office had not completed a retrocommissioning project in over a decade. Mass Save funded the engineering study at no out-of-pocket cost; the implementation phase covered roughly 60 percent of measure cost. Documented annual savings post-implementation ran approximately 14 percent of pre-project usage.

  • ISO-NE Forward Capacity enrollment

    National Grid Massachusetts and ISO-NE

    A Worcester-area manufacturing campus with 700 kW of dispatchable load had never participated in ISO-NE Forward Capacity. Enrollment through an aggregator produced forward capacity payments scaling with the auction clearing price. Dispatch events averaged three per year; production scheduling absorbed the curtailment cleanly.

  • Connected Solutions battery storage

    Eversource Energy

    A multifamily portfolio in Eastern Massachusetts had completed battery storage installations at three properties for solar self-consumption but had not enrolled in Connected Solutions. Enrollment produced annual demand response payments running approximately $230 per kW of committed storage; the program income covered roughly 30 percent of the storage finance cost.

  • Gas tariff schedule election

    Eversource Gas Massachusetts

    An Eastern Massachusetts food processor was billed on Eversource Gas G-3 (medium commercial) but had consumption levels that fit G-4 (large commercial). The schedule election produced structural savings on the demand component plus a small adjustment in the volumetric rate.

Related engagement archetypes

How this looks as a complete engagement

Engagement archetypes describe the pattern of work across a cohort of engagements sharing the same vertical, tariff exposure, and recovery shape.

Where to next

The disciplines that drive the work in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts engagement runs across all our standard service lines. Tariff and rate audits and billing forensics produce the immediate-cycle bill corrections; demand management and supply procurement cut the structural cost base; incentives and grants stack utility and state program funding into capital projects; tax and fee recovery surfaces back-credit on prior overpayments where qualifying use applies.

Schedule a 30-minute call about your Massachusetts portfolio.

Fifteen minutes with one of your Massachusetts bills is usually enough for us to see whether there is meaningful savings on the table.

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