RAM member blog:
Protecting Competition: Why H.5151's Energy Provision Threatens Massachusetts Retailers
by Michael Rombach, VP East, NRG Energy
A provision buried in H.5151—a bill currently moving through the state legislature—poses a serious threat to competitive energy markets in Massachusetts. While the bill's title promises energy affordability, this particular provision would do exactly the opposite by allowing cities and towns to ban competitive energy suppliers from serving residential customers.
Why should retailers care? Because energy is one of the biggest cost factors facing our members. Every store that keeps its lights on, every restaurant that runs a kitchen, every small business that opens its doors each morning depends on affordable electricity. Many of our members are already struggling with the cost of doing business in Massachusetts. This provision would allow local governments to take a key affordability tool out of the hands of consumers– and businesses could be next.
But it’s not just energy market competition that’s at stake. Once the legislature establishes that municipalities may eliminate a competitive market, the question isn't whether that authority will be used elsewhere—it's when. Free market operations cannot and should not be defined by municipal borders. This creates a dangerous precedent and sends a troubling signal to the entire business community about Massachusetts' commitment to maintaining competition.
REMINDER:
RAM Encourages Member Participation in the
MA Employee Survey (MES)
The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) is currently conducting the Massachusetts Employee Survey (MES), a biennial survey that asks a representative sample of Massachusetts employers to share their experiences and challenges in offering health insurance and related benefits to their employees. The MES tracks and monitors employer health insurance offerings, employee take-up rates, health insurance premiums, employer contribution amounts, plan characteristics, and employer decision making. The information generated by this critical survey is an important way to make sure those involved in the decision-making process understand what is truly happening in our retail community.
RAM encourages any members who receive this survey to take the time to fill it out. The survey is by invitation only; if you have been invited to take the survey, learn more and get started at mahealthsurveys.gov/mes.
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