This week a draft of the long-awaited Massachusetts energy bill was reported out of the Joint
Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. The bill
would require the Commonwealth's distribution companies to
competitively solicit long-term, fifteen- to twenty-year contracts
for large-scale offshore wind and hydroelectric power. Notably
absent from the bill are provisions addressing resources such as
solar, onshore wind, nuclear, energy storage, and energy
efficiency.
The bill seeks to jumpstart the development of offshore wind in
federal lease areas by directing distribution companies to
enter into contracts for 1,200 MW of offshore wind power before
July 1, 2027. The bill permits staggered solicitations, so long as
each individual solicitation is for at least 400 MW of aggregate
nameplate capacity and each subsequent solicitation occurs within
twenty-four months of a previous one. The first competitive
solicitation for offshore wind power would be required
