Senate Climate Bill Spans Hot Topics

Senate Climate Bill Spans Hot Topics

Recycling Bill Features Latest Bid To Bans Plastic Bags At Retail Checkouts

Source: State House News Service, Chris Lisinski, Jun 17, 2024

Summary of Climate Bill and Plastics Bill

JUNE 17, 2024.....Senators this week are angling to reshape the way regulators site and permit clean energy projects, boost access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and ban single-use plastic bags.

In a climate-themed session, Senate Democrats plan to seek votes Thursday on a pair of bills: their latest attempt to ban plastic checkout bags across the state (S 2830), and reforms aimed at helping to modernize the electric grid and how Bay Staters receive power (S 2829).

The 96-page energy bill reaches across topics, including project siting, electric vehicles, third-party electric suppliers, multistate procurement of clean energy, and utility rates.
Taking aim at an arduous, complicated process that most stakeholders view as flawed, the legislation would create a new, streamlined approach for permitting and siting clean energy projects.

Regulators would newly offer a single, consolidated permit to approve clean energy infrastructure instead of multiple permits stretching across local, regional and state levels, and the review would be limited to one year for smaller projects and 15 months for larger projects.

Sen. Michael Barrett, one of the bill's architects, said the changes would better balance local control that can slow the permitting process with the need for new infrastructure, which will continue to grow as Massachusetts shifts to cleaner sources of power in place of fossil fuels.

The Lexington Democrat recalled a "modest proposal" by utility company Eversource to bury electric transmission lines along an abandoned railroad right of way in Sudbury. Abutters sued, Barrett said, and it took nearly six years for the project to get approval.

"We can't take six years to do that the next time," he said in an interview. "We need to hear every issue a town or the neighbors want to raise, but in a compact period of 12 to 15 months."

In the days leading up to the bill's release, some local officials voiced concerns about ceding additional project review power to the state.

SWM clean energy bill summary
SWM Clean Energy Bill Summary
"We are in a climate crisis, and we need to do more to ensure that we meet our net-zero goals for 2050," Senate President Karen Spilka told reporters Monday. "The bill does include changing some of the siting and permitting, but it gives lots of opportunities for local governments and folks to have input, to have their say."

The bill would create a Division of Clean Energy Procurements within the Department of Energy Resources, and make it easier for New England states to join together when seeking new clean energy power, like Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut did in a tristate push for offshore wind.

"We have a New England grid, so it's time that we start to procure New England-wide power," Barrett said.

Utility companies under current law offer discounted rates for low-income customers, and the bill would expand that to include "moderate-income customers" as well. Utilities would additionally gain more flexibility when negotiating the length of basic service contracts with electricity providers, which Senate Democrats believe will reduce costs for customers.

The wide-ranging energy bill takes aim at an area the Senate already sought to rein in earlier this year: competitive electric suppliers.

Similar to a bill the Senate approved in April, the new legislation would ban competitive electric suppliers from enrolling new residential customers. Elected officials and regulators argue those companies deploy predatory tactics to lock individual residents into expensive contracts.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office found that although the industry generated about $30 million in net savings between July 2022 and June 2023, customers of competitive electricity suppliers over an eight-year period paid $577 million more than they would have if they stayed on basic service.

Asked about the decision to renew the proposal two months after approving it in a separate bill, Barrett replied, "You need multiple big vehicles in order to ensure that one horse crosses the finish line."

Other sections of the Senate energy bill would call on the state to evaluate emissions from state-owned property, require companies to consider greenhouse gas emissions when expanding or replacing gas pipelines, and extend through 2027 funding for the MOR-EV grant program that helps residents purchase electric vehicles.

Legislative leaders in both branches have signaled they intend to approve some kind of energy and climate bill this session, which will downshift into minor business only after July 31.

Barrett said he expects "much less conflict" trying to negotiate a final compromise with his House counterpart, Rep. Jeff Roy, this time around than two years ago when they crafted a major offshore wind and climate policy package that also launched a pilot program allowing 10 cities and towns to restrict fossil fuel infrastructure in new buildings.

Several sections of the new bill would expand access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Barrett said, describing it as an area of interest for Roy.

"There will be other areas, maybe, where it's harder to bridge differences, but I think Jeff and I could square away a bill in three or four marathon sessions and get this underway," Barrett said. "Whereas it was difficult [two years ago] because of the fossil fuel-free demonstration and Governor [Charlie] Baker's opposition to it."

SWM plastic bag ban summary
SWM Plastic Bag Ban Summary
The other bill on the Senate's agenda Thursday would ban retail stores from offering carryout plastic bags. Retailers would be required to charge 10 cents for recycled paper bags, 5 cents of which would need to fund environmental protection work.

Businesses would also be instructed not to automatically give patrons plastic utensils and straws, and state agencies would be prohibited from purchasing single-use plastic bottles.

Many cities and towns -- 162, according to a May 2023 estimate from the Sierra Club -- already regulate single-use plastic shopping bags at the local level.

The Senate approved a single-use plastic bag ban in 2019, and the bill never emerged for a vote in the House.

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