LEOMINSTER, MA — After a brutal winter for ratepayers struggling to bear the cost of keeping their homes warm, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is going nuclear.

Healey, during an appearance in Leominster Tuesday, said she’s filed new legislation aimed at lowering costs and bringing new energy products into the state market. According to the governor, if the proposal becomes law, it could save Bay State families upwards of $10 billion over the next 10 years.

“We’re filing a bill today that I’m calling the Energy Affordability, Independence and Innovation Act. As I said, we expect it will save consumers over $10 billion over time, including $100 million in the first year alone,” Healey said.

The bill would save all ratepayers money by stripping state mandated charges — like the Alternative Portfolio Standard charge — off of consumers’ energy bills. Healey said that “for too long, it’s been the practice to add more charges onto your bills, we’re going to start removing a bunch of those things.”

The proposal would also expand  “a first-in-the-nation moderate-income discount rate” that the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced in March during their initial response to sky-high energy rates seen this past winter. As it stands now, the moderate income discount is only available to help defray electricity costs, while the governor’s new proposal would include natural gas customers.

The legislation also aims to bring more energy into the state with an “all-of-the-above” approach to power generation and by “reducing barriers to new cutting-edge nuclear technologies.”

“With today’s announcement, we’re proposing that the state take a look at nuclear,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said. She was quick to add a caveat: the state isn’t proposing the construction of a massive nuclear power station, but is looking at allowing smaller power generation facilitates — like Advanced Small Modular Reactors — made possible with modern nuclear tech.

“We’re not talking about your old-school nuclear power plants. What we’re talking about is cutting-edge, small-scale nuclear technology,” Tepper said.

The bill contains a number of reforms aimed at protecting consumers from unfair business practices, and according to the governor’s office it will prohibit automatic contract renewals and variable rate plans, adds additional requirements for licensing door-to-door sales and telemarketing firms, and increases state oversight of utility companies.

“I believe that this legislation is going to give us the tools that we need to create more accountability for our utilities and maximize every single ratepayer dollar. We need to make sure that for every single dollar that is paid that we’re getting the most out of that, and we have to make sure that we’re not stuck paying for corporate investments that don’t help the community,” Healey said.

But critics were quick to slam the plan.

According to Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, Healey’s bill fails to address what they say is the root cause of rising energy costs — a relentless push for alternative energy. The governor seems to have tipped her hand somewhat in doing away with the alternative portfolio charge, according MassFiscal Executive Director Paul Craney.

“That’s not reform. That’s a confession. This plan is political window dressing. Governor Healey is trying to calm public outrage over sky-high electric bills without making any of the tough decisions needed to actually lower them. This bill gives more power to the same bureaucrats that created this mess and asks ratepayers to trust them again. That’s not vying for affordability — that’s arrogance,” Craney said.

According to Holly Robichaud, a spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve, Healey’s plan is “too little, too late as usual” and comes only after Shortsleeve promised to slash utility charges when announcing his campaign for office.

“It was her actions that cause our electric bills to go through the roof, and only now that Brian Shortsleeve called her out and promised real reform is she taking this issue more seriously. What Healey really owes Massachusetts ratepayers is an apology for a winter’s worth of economic pain,” Robichaud said.

MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale said Healey’s “energy affordability agenda” has been “anything but.”

“While inflation and energy prices are dropping across the country, Massachusetts’ rates keep rising. That’s no accident: It’s a direct result of the failures brought on by Maura Healey and one-party rule on Beacon Hill, and it’s why voters will demand change in 2026,” she said in a statement.