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Massachusetts House Passes Bill Allowing Cities, Towns To Ban Individual Residential Retail Electric Choice
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Updated, Feb. 26, 10:13 p.m. ET
Massachusetts bill H.5151 was passed by the House to engrossment, which sends the bill to the Senate
Three consolidated amendments were adopted in passage to engrossment
The amendments maintain the bill's provision which would grant authority to municipalities to ban individual residential electric choice
Specifically, H.5151 would provide that any city or town may, by a town meeting vote or vote by the municipality's legislative body (whichever is applicable to such municipality), prohibit any retail supplier, marketer, or broker from executing a new contract, or renewing an existing contract, for generation services with any individual residential retail customer within such municipality
This prohibition would not apply to municipal aggregation
The amended bill clarifies that any such ban would not apply to the supplier of a municipal aggregation (prior bill language had stated that the ban would not apply to the governments operating the municipal aggregations; the amended language clarifies that municipal aggregation suppliers are included within this exemption)
A final engrossed version of the bill was not immediately available.
The other major provisions concerning retail energy included in the bill as reported from committee also appear to be unchanged, see details from the committee-reported version here
H.5151 was also amended to include various provisions concerning data centers, including an 80% renewable energy supply requirement for new data centers
The amended bill provides, "Any new or expanded data center seeking any permit from the department or the energy facilities siting board shall procure sufficient electricity supply to meet their operational needs using not less than 80 per cent renewable energy resources."
The bill would require the EDCs to develop data center tariffs
Such data center tariffs, "shall be designed to: (i) ensure that non-data center ratepayers are protected from any increased costs that result from increased electricity demand caused by data centers; and (ii) incentivize data centers to develop and utilize methods to increase energy efficiency, including through the use of technologies that capture and utilize the heat produced by the data centers."
EnergyChoiceMatters.com will provide a further update once engrossed language is available
Earlier:
As of publication time, the Massachusetts House has been voting on various amendments to H.5151, a bill which would allow individual towns and cities to ban individual residential electric choice.
A consolidated amendment (consolidated "A") to the bill approved by the House appears to maintain the authority of municipalities to ban individual residential electric choice. The amendment clarifies that any ban would not apply to suppliers of opt-out municipal aggregation (prior bill language had stated that the ban would not apply to the governments operating the opt-out municipal aggregations; the amended language clarifies that municipal aggregation suppliers are included within this exemption)
A second consolidated amendment is on tap for consideration
A final House vote on the amended bill has not yet occurred as of publication time.
This is a developing story. Monitor this page for any updates this evening (a refresh of your browser may be required).
See full details on the bill as advanced from committee in our prior story here.
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February 26, 2026 -- Updated
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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