Massachusetts passes bill to speed clean energy and slow gas expansion

Yesterday, Massachusetts lawmakers made major moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition the state to clean energy. Legislators approved a long-awaited climate bill that will limit gas pipeline expansion, make it easier to site and build renewables, and allow utilities to use geothermal energy — instead of fossil fuels — to heat and cool homes. Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, is expected to sign it into law in the coming days.

The bill first passed the Senate over the summer but stalled in the House, where representatives wanted a more narrow focus that didn’t include gas system reforms. The legislators managed to reach a compromise, and environmental advocates are pleased with the result.

“The Legislature and the Healey-Driscoll Administration are taking tangible steps to drive the Commonwealth’s clean energy future forward in the wake of the federal Election outcome,” the Acadia Center said in a press release following the vote. Massachusetts is the first state to take action on climate since Trump’s re-election; the new federal landscape could spur more state lawmakers to try and advance climate legislation.

A large portion of the new bill streamlines the steps for clean energy projects to get off the ground. Instead of having to go through multiple agencies for approval, the Energy Facilities Siting Board will oversee the entire process. ​“We’re eliminating a lot of the friction that prevents projects from being built,” said Caitlin Peale Sloan, vice president of the Massachusetts chapter at Conservation Law Foundation.

“This will hopefully unlock the clean energy that we need to get built,” Sloan said. Massachusetts has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and cutting emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

A faster permitting process could leave less room for opposition from impacted communities. On top of that, the bill places a time limit on challenges to renewable energy projects — which can sometimes hold up construction for years — to 15 months. But to protect already burdened communities, the legislature added a requirement that each project proposal must look at cumulative environmental impact, or how a new facility could add to the existing pollution in a given area.

The bill also sets state targets for long duration energy storage and allows contracts for offshore wind and battery storage for up to 30 years, instead of the current 20. One provision allows Massachusetts to receive nuclear energy from neighboring Connecticut; in exchange, Connecticut is expected to agree to take wind power from MA’s 1,200 megawatt Vineyard Wind 2 project.

In terms of gas reform, the new law takes an important step by changing how gas companies are defined. Until now, gas utilities in Massachusetts have only been allowed to deliver gas to their customers, and no alternative fuels. Going forward, they can provide heating and cooling to homes through networked geothermal energy, which connects water-filled pipes in the street to heat pumps in buildings. Several utilities are already operating small-scale demonstration projects of this technology in the state. In June, Eversource Gas brought the first networked geothermal pilot online, delivering energy to 36 buildings in Framingham, MA.

Adding geothermal to their toolkit ​“provides a window for [gas utilities] to expand their business, but in a non-polluting way,” said Mark Dyen, part of the steering team at Gas Transition Allies, a coalition focused on reducing methane emissions in the state.

If gas utilities wish to expand their service or build new pipelines, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) will now be required to evaluate whether expansion furthers the Commonwealths’ climate goals or creates stranded assets with high costs for ratepayers, and whether an alternative to gas service could be provided that still offers substantially similar service.

“We’re now saying ​‘the gas system is not here forever. We are moving off of it,’” Dyen said. ​“It doesn’t stop gas company expansion, but it certainly puts an entirely new lens on it.”

Since 2014, utilities in Massachusetts have been replacing and repairing leaky gas pipes in an effort to reduce methane emissions and improve safety. Now, the DPU has the option to not just approve the repair or replacement of a gas pipe, but to recommend that utilities retire a gas pipe, taking it offline completely.

In 2021, the DPU updated its mission to include promoting equity and greenhouse gas emission reductions, in addition to safety, security, reliability, and affordability. ​“I think this DPU takes that mission seriously. And so I’m confident they will take these updated provisions seriously,” said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the Acadia Center.

Other sections of the bill set electric vehicle charging efficiency standards, remove barriers to EV chargers in condo associations, require the DPU to look into installing chargers on electric poles, and clarify legislative authority for the DPU to order differential utility rates based on customers’ income.

Even with all the new changes, ​“I do think we’re behind where we would want to be in 2024,” Sloane said. In the next legislative session, she hopes to see another climate bill move forward that makes public transit more attractive and affordable and prevents new fossil fuel equipment from being installed.

“I think it’s critical that we continue in this environment where we’re not going to be able to look to the federal government for help for a while,” Sloan said. ​“We have to focus on creating a livable and affordable Massachusetts and getting off fossil fuels is a critical step towards that.”