Massachusetts Senate Committee On Global Warming And Climate Change Releases Far-Reaching Draft Legislation

Yesterday, February 12, 2018, the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change released a Proposed Draft of legislation staking out an ambitious and far-reaching set of policies across a wide range of sectors.

There is a lot in the proposal and we are still reviewing the details, including the differences among mandates, targets, goals and discretionary authority.

For now, here is a high-level summary of the Committee's proposals:

• Increase the frequency of solicitations for long term contracts for offshore wind power under 83C of the Green Communities Act to every 18 months from every 24 months;
• Allow solicitations for offshore wind in excess of the existing 1600 MW mandate, with a goal of 5,000 MW of installed capacity by 2035, if DOER demonstrates that such solicitations would ensure compliance with the Global Warming Solutions Act;