Bellingham Bulletin September 2022

Page 12 Bellingham Bulletin Local Town Pages | www.bellinghambulletin.com September 2022
Massachusetts Legislature Passes Sweeping Clean Energy Bill
By Caroline Gordon
The Massachusetts Legislature
recently passed a sweeping
clean energy bill, an act furthering
the development of clean energy
and offshore wind.
The legislation aids green
transportation, green buildings,
and clean power production, including
offshore wind, solar, storage
and networked geothermal,
while also creating thousands of
new jobs and economic profits.
This bill includes the utilization
of the offshore wind industry
in Massachusetts.
This legislation creates a
Massachusetts Offshore Wind
Industry Investment Program,
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administered by the Massachusetts
Clean Energy Center (Mass-
CEC), which consists of annual
tax incentives, grants, loans, and
other investments through the
fund, and assistance from Mass-
CEC in accessing other state or
federal economic investment programs.
Additionally, this bill creates
the Massachusetts Offshore
Wind Industry Investment Trust
Fund, which can be used to further
the manufacture, fabrication,
and assembly of domestic
supply chain components of the
offshore wind industry, increase
financing for permanent manufacturing
facilities, advance clean
energy research and innovation,
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and prepare people for offshore
wind careers.
Furthermore, the legislation
modifies the price cap in order
to set clear standards to allow
for offshore wind project proposals
that are cost-effective and
promote economic development
in Massachusetts and make the
state’s offshore wind bidding process
more competitive.
Under this legislation, the
price cap, which is a kind of
economic regulation that sets a
limit on the prices that a utility
provider can charge, will be removed
if three or more offshore
wind developers submit bids, and
if less than three companies bid,
a modified price cap would remain
in place.
The legislation also establishes
a commercial fisheries commission
to voice feedback on optimal
practices for lowering the amount
of and mitigating impacts to the
wildlife near offshore energy generation
and transmission.
It also confiscated control over
awarding offshore wind energy
contracts away from companies
like Eversource and National
Grid and instead, offered it to
the state Department of Energy
Resources.
This bill adds to the Next
Generation Climate Roadmap
bill, which was passed earlier this
legislative session and serviced
the state’s climate laws by putting
Massachusetts on track to reach
net-zero limit on greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050.
State Representative of the
10th Norfolk District Jeff Roy
shared his thoughts on the state
reaching the net-zero limit goal.
“We will need a lot of clean
energy to reach that ambitious
goal. As such, Massachusetts
must develop a source of affordable
and abundant clean energy
on our own shores — or rather,
off it,” he said.
Roy continued, “Offshore
wind is a huge opportunity for
Massachusetts. It is a large and
growing source of clean energy
around the world and is poised
for rapid growth.”
Roy noted Massachusetts waters
have the largest technical offshore
wind potential of any state
in the contiguous U.S. He said
the Commonwealth is “uniquely
prepared to capitalize” on the
nation’s budding offshore wind
industry and become the “Saudi
Arabia of offshore wind.”
He touched on the importance
of clean energy, noting the
negative impact climate changes
have had on the Earth.
“Clean energy is important
because in February, the U.N.’s
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change issued a report
showing that climate change is
rapidly reshaping the world, including
New England. It noted
that we are on the front lines of
the climate crisis and reminded
us that if we are to minimize irreversible
impacts, we must make
unparalleled changes, including
the creation of clean energy,”
said Roy.
Roy highlighted how, last
November, voters in Maine approved
a ballot measure that
interfered with plans to develop
a transmission line to deliver hydroelectric
power from Canada
to Massachusetts and the rest of
the region, halting a strong supply
of clean energy.
CLEAN
continued on page 13
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