The Download: Energy industry pads key lawmaker’s campaign coffers as major bill advances DON'T LET ENERGY INDUSTRY DICTATE POLICY!

 

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Energy industry pads key lawmaker’s campaign coffers as major bill advances   November 14, 2025 By JORDAN wOLMAN

It didn't take long for lobbyists representing the energy industry to show support for a key state lawmaker as his sweeping energy bill advances in the State House.

State Rep. Mark Cusack, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, received $4,100 in contributions on Wednesday — much of which came from lobbyists representing the state’s energy interests.

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The donations were posted on the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance website on the same day that Cusack’s legislation that would weaken the state’s 2030 climate mandates advanced out of committee as it moves quickly through the House.

In all, 11 lobbyists, consultants, and attorneys either representing or working directly for energy companies, including National Grid, Unitil, and Liberty Utilities — in addition to oil giant Exxon and Avangrid, which co-owns the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project currently in operation and owns Berkshire Gas — contributed a total of $2,400 to Cusack’s campaign account.

Jason Tait, a spokesperson for OCPF, said the November 12 transaction date reflects when the money was deposited into Cusack’s campaign account, not necessarily when the donation was made, but that contributions must be deposited within seven days of receipt. CommonWealth Beacon first reported the news of Cusack’s legislative push on November 7. The OCPF deposit report on November 12 was his fourth-largest of the year and largest since May.

Cusack declined to comment.

His legislation would lower the amount of renewable energy the utilities would be required to purchase and cut the state’s energy efficiency initiative, which is funded through the utilities’ ratepayers, by $500 million. It would also codify Gov. Maura Healey’s request to delay a state mandate to procure offshore wind from 2027 to 2029.

Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, said Cusack’s haul is a “fairly significant number for a single day for a state legislator,” but that there’s nothing out of the ordinary regarding the contributions.

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“This is exactly what lobbyists do,” he said. “They try to influence legislators to support their causes in part by contributing financially to their campaign coffers, especially legislators who are in committee assignments that can be helpful to them or can otherwise help them advance an agenda. Utility companies have historically been involved in lobbying efforts and use their resources strategically to try to advance their goals.”

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More Context ‘We will fill the State House’: Advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments (November 2025)

More from CommonWealth Beacon MUST READ IN ITS ENTIRETY! CLIMATE: A major bill that would weaken the state’s 2030 climate mandates is officially on the move in the House after seven House Democrats on the energy committee voted to advance it. It’s a sign of the political muscle being exerted on Beacon Hill to soften the state’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – and is throwing Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability legislation into disarray. Jordan Wolman has more.   excerpt:  The legislation, which CommonWealth Beacon obtained on Monday, details a scenario in which the state’s 2030 climate commitment to halve pollution compared to 1990 levels could become “advisory” if those goals are missed because of actions taken by the federal government. President Trump has kneecapped the clean energy transition by halting new offshore wind permits and pulling money meant to spur uptake in solar power and electric vehicles.  Cusack’s bill also caps the Mass Save program at $4 billion, a $500 million cut from its current budget, and rolls back the amount of renewable energy that utilities are required to purchase.   The measure is ushering in an unexpected — and messy — debate over the state’s overall policy push to meet its 2030 climate commitments as Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability package filed earlier this year is thrown into disarray.  CHECKUP: Massachusetts’s long-running health care challenges are only set to grow more dire due to federal cuts and changes to Medicaid eligibility, Chris Lisinski reports.    HOSPITAL: State officials voted to approve the sale of a Leicester hospital and nursing home to an out-of-state, for-profit regional health care operator. Sam Drysdale at the State House News Service has the details.   FACTS INCLUDED! WE HAVE NO CHOICE BASED ON INCREASED ENERGY USE! OPINION: Are the state’s ambitious 2030 climate commitments already out of reach? Rick Sullivan, a former state secretary of energy and environmental affairs and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, raises the question that’s reverberating around the State House right now.

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