Massachusetts’ Building Energy Usage Disclosure

A lesser-known provision of the Massachusetts legislature’s 2022 An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind created M.G.L. ch.25A §20, which requires the reporting of energy usage data for buildings over 20,000 square feet statewide. The Massachusetts’ Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has released draft regulations governing the reporting process and will accept public comment through Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

A couple of things to note:

• The DOER regulations place the reporting burden in the first instance on the municipal utilities, the distribution companies, the steam suppliers, etc.  Building owners are required to supplement or provide additional information not covered by the energy suppliers’ obligations.
• So far, the DOER regulations require energy usage reporting only for buildings > 20,000 SF. Still, the draft regulations contemplate looping in additional buildings co-located on the same parcels as large buildings. DOER was also given legislative authority to lower the 20,000 SF reporting threshold in the future.
• For building owners who are also presently required to report building energy use at the municipal level, the draft state regulations in some areas do not align and create conflicting/duplicative burdens. These include the timing of deadlines, the size of buildings covered, how changes of ownership are treated, and when costly third-party verification is required.