STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday filed procurement legislation to boost the state’s supply of hydropower, presumably from Canada, a goal that the governor says will increase electricity reliability, help grow an alternative to coal and oil power generation, and enable the state to meet the emissions reduction goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act.
The bill aims to require Massachusetts utilities to “jointly, and competitively, solicit long-term contracts for clean energy generation resources and associated transmission together with the Department of Energy Resources,” according to Baker’s office, and allows multi-state procurement with Rhode Island and Connecticut. The bill “does not preclude intermittent renewable energy resources, such as wind, from participating in the solicitation provided the renewable resource is supported by hydropower.”
In a statement, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton said the legislation “strikes a balance between climate and environmental awareness, and Massachusetts’ need for clean, cost-conscience generation resources.”
[The legislation follows through on a commitment Baker made during his first campaign for governor against Deval Patrick to import more hydroelectricity from Canada. It also comes on the heels of an April meeting with fellow New England governors where Baker emphasized his “all-option approach” on energy that calls for importing hydroelectricity from Canada and expanding the region’s natural gas capacity.]
Baker’s team is still working on a bill to address opioid addiction and the governor, as he shifts to a non-budgetary legislative agenda, is also hoping lawmakers will act before their summer recess on standalone legislation he’s filed to improve operations at the MBTA.
While most bills filed by the governor arrive in the House, Baker’s team said they filed the hydropower bill with the Senate.
Baker’s office issued its legislation with supportive statements from Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, Boston Harbor Association President Vivien Li, and Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Pacheco of Taunton.
The Conservation Law Foundation said it is “troubling” that the bill does not focus on New England-based clean energy and said the power source would need to be tracked “or else we could end up buying Canadian coal-powered electricity during periods of high demand in the Eastern Canadian provinces.”
“Hydropower needs to be a piece of the puzzle, but it must be added in a way that simultaneously protects our rivers and forests and incorporates alternate renewable energy solutions,” said Greg Cunningham, CLF Vice President for Clean Energy and Climate Change in a statement.
Andy Metzger contributed reporting to this story.
While the recognition that Canadian hydro power is less expensive and more reliable than home grown intermittent and unreliable wind and solar, is a welcome change in state policy, We need to convince the Governor and the legislature that the Green Communities Act and the Global Warming Act are forcing the early retirement of coal and nuclear plants to create the need for Canadian hydro in the first place.
While retiring coal may avoid carbon emissions, the unintended early retirement of nuclear cancels that benefit. The state’s economy will be better served by the repeal of these Acts and a return to getting electricity at the lowest cost.