House Passes An Act advancing offshore wind and clean energy

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Towards fulfilling the Commonwealth’s commitment to net-zero emissions, as passed in the 2050 Road Map last year, Framingham Representatives Jack Patrick Lewis, Carmine Gentile, and Maria Robinson voted to pass H.4515, "An Act advancing offshore wind and clean energy." The bill passed 144 -12.

“I’m immensely proud of the steps that the House took today to ensure Massachusetts remains at the forefront of renewable energy development,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “Not only will this legislation help us reduce our carbon emissions and combat climate change, it will also spur economic development, modernize our energy infrastructure, and create thousands of new jobs in the process. I want to thank Chairman Roy for his hard work in advancing this legislation, as its passage today was undoubtedly a critical step in the right direction.”

This legislation creates investments and incentives to offshore wind development in the Commonwealth. The bill creates a $50 million tax incentive program for capital investments and employment in the wind sector and creates parity between electric and natural gas, imposing a charge for natural gas consumers to support renewable energy, similar to the charge electric customers currently pay.

At a little over $1 a month for the average customer, this is estimated to collect $23 million a year over the next 10 years to support the Commonwealth’s transition to clean energy. By diversifying Massachusetts’ energy portfolio, Massachusetts will become more energy independent and less reliant on imported natural gas that is susceptible to volatile price spikes, thereby helping to stabilize ratepayer bills in the long term.

“Thank you to Speaker Mariano, Chair Roy, and my fellow colleagues who voted to pass this important legislation,” said Lewis. “As a coastal state, we must be a leader in offshore wind and clean energy production. This bill also invests in well-paying jobs and essential career development, along with assisting our state and country in becoming more energy independent.”

“I'm grateful to Speaker Mariano and Chair Roy for ensuring Massachusetts will remain a leader in this important area of economic development,” added Robinson.

The bill also directs electric utilities to develop grid modernization plans and submit them for review, directs the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and DOER to study the viability of a solicitation for energy storage installations, and supports the creation of job training pilot programs in the wind sector. Furthermore, the bill directs DOER to engage in a competitive solicitation process for offshore wind energy transmission proposals to support generation projects.

“This legislation provides the Commonwealth the ability to provide fully one third of the national goal set by President Biden for offshore wind,” said Gentile. “It will provide thousands of great paying jobs in Massachusetts for our children and replace our 1950s era electric production and distribution system with a system that enables local production and distribution and allows us to become energy independent, no longer dependent on fossil fuels imported from other states or nations.

"This legislation will allow us to establish Massachusetts as a national leader in clean energy production and storage," Gentile continued. "Looking back years from now history will record this bill as a great turning point for our Commonwealth and the nation. I thank Speaker Mariano, Chair Roy, and all my colleagues who worked together to develop this landmark legislation.”

“An Act advancing offshore wind and clean energy” (H.4515):

• Makes the Massachusetts offshore wind bidding process more competitive by removing a current price cap that requires bids to be less expensive than previous procurements that has deterred companies from participating in the procurement process. Future procurements would now include economic development, employment, and environmental and fisheries mitigation benefits.
• Invests hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade in infrastructure, innovation, job training, supply chain capacity, and transmission upgrades. The legislation consists of tax incentives, grants, loans, and other investments.
• Requires utility companies to proactively upgrade the transmission and distribution grid to improve reliability and resilience and accommodate the anticipated significant shift to renewable forms of energy.
• Invests in long-term energy storage to help the Commonwealth’s transition to renewable energy.
• Provides thousands of good-paying jobs with a focus on ensuring access and opportunity for everyone.
• Creates a DESE high school offshore wind credential training pilot program through which DESE would reimburse school districts for each student that obtains the credential

This bill now goes before the Senate.