The 22,000-member Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) announced yesterday that it formally opposes several sections of Senate Bill S.2372, An Act to Promote Energy Diversity. The group said in a press release that if passed, the bill would be extremely harmful to the Massachusetts housing market and would disproportionately hurt low- and moderate-income homeowners. The Massachusetts Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow.

“Realtors support the main goal of the bill, but there are provisions that will cause more harm than good if the bill is passed,” Annie Blatz, 2016 MAR president and branch executive at Kinlin Grover Real Estate on Cape Cod, said in a statement. “A mandated home energy labeling program, while well intended, would significantly hurt the housing market for all homeowners, really stick it to low-income homeowners with older homes and won’t actually create energy efficiency.”

The goal of the bill is to diversify the state’s energy acquisition to include more renewable energy, but it also includes provisions that mandate a new energy auditing and labeling system. This system would include information about a dwelling’s energy costs, energy consumption and would be required to be available at the time of listing a home. In addition, this private information would be tracked and reported by the state.

MAR said these requirements would have drastic negative impacts on Massachusetts’ old housing stock. The group claims the bill, if passed, would impact low- and moderate-income communities where the homeowners cannot afford to make upgrades. The ratings could cause depressed values of those older homes as well.

“Proponents of the legislation try to simplify the argument of an energy score by equating it to a miles per gallon (MPG) rating,” Blatz said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this would be like putting out new MPG requirements on cars that were built over 50 years ago, if you were to use the median age of Massachusetts homes, which is second oldest in the country.”

The bill as drafted would require an energy audit prior to listing a home. MAR contends that adding a mandatory inspection to the home buying process is counterproductive to encouraging a healthy real estate market and opportunities for home ownership.

There are currently alternatives already available. Under existing state law, home inspectors are required to provide consumers information regarding home energy audits at the time of a home inspection (see 266 CMR 6.08). Additionally, the standard contract to purchase produced by MAR includes a provision allowing for a buyer to conduct an energy audit as part of the inspection. These alternatives provide consumers the opportunity to voluntarily conduct inspections and obtain upgrades if they so choose. Continuing to educate consumers about these alternatives is critical to the success of energy policies and programs.

“Instead of focusing on ways to incentivize all homeowners to make energy efficient upgrades to their homes, the bill would hinder and cause delays of home buying and selling process,” Blatz said in a statement. “MAR has long supported a property owner’s ability to voluntarily obtain an energy inspection of their home through programs such as Mass Save. What the Senate is proposing penalties and not incentives.”