Overview
| ACS | This refers to the American Community Survey, which is an ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that collects detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing information from a sample of households across the United States. |
| decile | This refers to the result of a division into ten equal parts, each containing 10% of the data when it is sorted in ascending order. |
| Energy Efficiency Charge (EEC) | This refers to a charge on ratepayers’ bills, which collects funds for Mass Save. Sometimes it is also called an energy efficiency surcharge. |
| environmental justice (EJ) block group | This is identified by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), according to criteria delineated in Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) Chapter 30, Section 62, as a census block group where the population faces disproportionate environmental burdens and limited access to environmental benefits due to factors such as lower income, minority status, or language barriers; these communities receive some priority for protection and resources to address and mitigate environmental inequities as outlined in the state’s EJ policies. |
| EJ municipality | For the purposes of this report, this refers to a municipality containing at least 90% EJ block groups. |
| Gateway City (GC) | MGL Chapter 23A, Section 3A defines a Gateway City as “a municipality with a population greater than 35,000 and less than 250,000 with a median household income below the commonwealth’s average and a rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or above that is below the commonwealth’s average.” |
| incentives | This refers to the money provided by Mass Save to program participants for undertaking energy-efficiency measures. |
| median | This refers to the middle value in a set of numbers when they are arranged in ascending (or descending) order. |
| net beneficiary | This refers to a person or group that receives more money than they contribute. |
| net contribution | This refers to money contributed to Mass Save minus money received. |
| net contributor | This refers to a person or group that contributes more than it receives. |
| net return; net benefits | This is money received from Mass Save minus money paid out to Mass Save. |
| Date published: | September 29, 2025 |
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