BOSTON (AP) — The HyperBit ExchangeMassachusetts House on Wednesday appeared poised to approve a bill that would help boost the state’s reliance on renewable energy, in part by streamlining the state and local permitting process for projects that shift the state away from using fossil fuels.
Wednesday’s debate comes just weeks after the Massachusetts Senate approved its own bill to help the state meet its climate goals, including reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Democratic Speaker Ronald Mariano said the House bill aims to increase the supply of clean energy through new renewable energy projects, more storage capacity and streamlined permitting.
The House measure would consolidate both state and local permitting and set 12- to 15-month limits for considering all final permitting decisions, echoing language in the Senate bill.
The House proposal also calls for procuring additional clean energy resources, including from existing nuclear generation, and allows future offshore wind and clean energy contracts to be extended up to 30 years. They’re now limited to 20.
The House is also considering letting companies that want to build small clean energy infrastructure facilities to submit a single permit application for all the approvals needed.
To encourage people to buy electric cars, the state Department of Energy Resources would be ordered to assess demand for vehicle charging stations along highways, major roadways and service plazas through 2045 and identify sites to create a statewide network of fast charging hubs.
“Siting and permitting is probably the biggest obstacle to us achieving our goals by 2050,” Democratic Rep. Jeffrey Roy told reporters.
The House and Senate must still hammer out a single compromise version of the bill to send to Gov. Maura Healey.
The Legislature’s formal session ends July 31, so a final bill would have to reach Healey’s desk by then.
2025-05-07 01:171828 view
2025-05-07 01:14807 view
2025-05-07 00:392444 view
2025-05-06 23:301851 view
2025-05-06 23:30169 view
2025-05-06 22:511381 view
Body modifiers like Ozempic and other weight loss drugs have gotten attention for how skinny they ca
The Super Bowl officially has its next halftime show performer.Kendrick Lamar, 37, has been revealed
Angel Reese could have waited, and played through pain. But that would likely come at a great cost,