Energy bill passes, but Legislature punts on key issues

Environment Massachusetts

Boston – Following months of debate, the Legislature approved a bill early this morning to bring offshore wind power to Massachusetts, but failed to address other key energy issues.

Ben Hellerstein, State Director for Environment Massachusetts, issued the following statement:

“Any day we can help bring offshore wind energy to Massachusetts is a good day. But when it comes to clean energy, there’s a lot that legislators left undone.

“State leaders have taken a key step to allow wind turbines to spin off the coast of Massachusetts, and they deserve our commendation. Offshore wind is poised to provide enough clean energy to power hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts homes, reducing the carbon emissions that fuel global warming.

“But global warming is an urgent problem, and it calls for bold steps towards 100 percent renewable energy, not half measures. Unfortunately, officials failed to act on key opportunities to double the growth of renewable energy and stop proposed gas pipelines.

“For tonight, we’ll celebrate a major step towards tapping into Massachusetts’ tremendous offshore wind resources. But in the morning, we’ll renew the fight for 100 percent renewable energy for Massachusetts. We’ve certainly got a lot of work ahead of us.”

The bill, approved just minutes before the end of the legislative session early Monday morning, will require utility companies to enter into long-term contracts for 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power. These contracts are widely seen as necessary to enable the construction of offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts.

The legislation is silent on many other energy issues. A version passed by the Senate in June would have doubled the rate of growth of clean energy and prohibited the use of public money to pay for the construction of new gas pipelines, but those provisions were omitted from the final bill approved this morning.

The bill is now headed to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk to await his signature before becoming law.

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Environment Massachusetts is the statewide, citizen-funded advocacy group working for a cleaner, greener, healthier future.