MassSave, the state energy efficiency program that’s morphed in recent years into an all-out anti-fossil fuel one, has seen its three-year budget grow from $2.8 billion ending 2021 to $5 billion in recent years, for a whopping 78 percent increase, according to the Globe. Now lawmakers are talking of reducing that increase to $3.5 billion in stages, a move the Globe and ‘advocates’ say would “effectively gut” the program. Really? Gutting a program by leaving it with $3.5 billion, 25 percent higher than it was just five years ago? Does this mean we might as well cut it down to zero dollars since the program is effectively kaput at $3.5 billion? …

Setting aside the “effectively gut” silliness, the Globe story is actually quite good, explaining how MassSave has seen more than a little mission creep since the start of the decade — and seen skyrocketing costs as a result. … MassSave needs to get back to its energy-efficiency roots. Look at the ISO New England power-usage chart below. Notice how total energy consumption (light blue bars) has declined since 2006, the year MassSave started, and how peak usage has remained basically flat over the years (dark blue). Since the chart measures total New England power usage, MassSave can’t be credited for all the recent savings – but it certainly deserves some of the credit. Bottom line: conservation in Massachusetts and across the region has worked.