Massachusetts State House, photograph by Michael Gerth, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
On August 8, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed an energy bill into law that will greatly increase the state’s clean energy capabilities. Known as An Act to Promote Energy Diversity, the bill (H.4568) will make the state more reliant on wind power, hydropower, and other sustainable energy sources, and require utilities to fix natural gas leaks around the state.
“This week the clean energy revolution accelerates where the United States revolution began,” says Mark Kresowick, an organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, “and much of the credit goes to the Sierra Club, particularly the Massachusetts Chapter, chapter director Emily Norton, and chapter chair Cathy Buckley.”
That’s Buckley, above at left, and Norton, at right, flanking Massacusetts Sierra Club volunteers Launa Zimmaro and Susan Mirsky. Below, that's Buckley with Governor Baker the day the Act to Promote Energy Diversity was signed into law.
The State House of Representatives passed its version of the bill on June 8, and the Senate followed suit shortly thereafter with an even stronger bill that passed on June 30 by a unanimous 39-0 vote. A month later, quite literally at the 11th hour on July 31, the full Massachusetts legislature passed the Act to Promote Energy Diversity.
The bill requires electric utilities to solicit and procure 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind -- the largest offshore wind commitment of any state in the nation -- as well as 9.45 terawatts of hydropower and other renewable energy sources. It also increases efficiency and energy storage and requires utilities to fix gas leaks all around the state.
Governor Baker pushed aggressively for the purchase of large amounts of hydropower, but the legislature ultimately halved the amount that Baker initially sought. According to the Boston Globe, the hydropower purchases could potentially drive up short-term costs for ratepayers due to new infrastructure costs, but advocates argue that the Act will stabilize rates over the long term, ensuring that electricity is reliably available during times of peak demand, while enabling the state to reach its aggressive greenhouse gas-reduction goals.
“Sierra Club advocacy played a major role in the passage of this bill, Kresowik says. “From multiple op-eds to tireless advocacy at the State Capitol and around the state, Sierra Club volunteers and staff made the case for more renewable energy as opposed to new gas pipelines.” Before the bill could come before the full legislature, the House and Senate versions had to be reconciled. The House version required utilities to buy up to 1,200 megawatts of both Canadian hydropower and equitable amounts from proposed offshore wind farms to make the region’s energy mix more environmentally friendly. The more comprehensive Senate Bill prohibited electric utilities from charging ratepayers a fee to build new natural gas pipelines, required the solicitation of long-term contracts for at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2027, required the results of home energy audits to be made available when houses are listed for sale, imposed a charge of 2.5 cents per gallon on home heating oil sales to help pay for energy-efficiency measures, and offered incentives for electric vehicle purchasing. The Senate bill also would have doubled the pace of growth in the amount of renewable energy that utilities are mandated to purchase -- a requirement that already escalates every year.
In reconciling their differing versions of the bill, the House and Senatehad to agree on a method of providing reliable renewable electricity to meet the state’s aggressive greenhouse gas emissions standards while at the same time phasing out old and outdated fossil fuel plants to make way for new, clean energy. After passage of the bill, Chapter Director Emily Norton offered this statement:
"Massachusetts lawmakers should be praised for supporting the establishment of the first offshore wind industry in the Commonwealth and for forcing utilities to fix methane leaks that are warming our planet, killing trees, jeopardizing safety, and wasting consumer dollars.
“The bill does not go far enough in terms of transitioning us to a clean energy economy and a transportation sector powered by clean electricity rather than petroleum, and it is disappointing to see that that in spite of a unanimous Senate vote to prohibit a pipeline tax, that language is missing from the final version. We look forward to making further gains toward climate justice in the next legislative session."