Wednesday, March 2, 2022

CommonWealth Magazine: "New offshore wind bill drops electric bill charges"

"HOUSE LEADERS on Tuesday abandoned a proposal to hike electric ratepayer bills as they pulled together the votes needed to pass legislation offering significant financial incentives to the offshore wind industry to put down roots in Massachusetts.

“There will be other opportunities to put more money in this. We want to keep the debate about building an industry,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano. “We didn’t want this bill to get killed because of an argument over consumer electric bills.”

An earlier draft of the bill approved by the Legislature’s Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee called for tripling the existing 30-cent monthly charge on electric bills to promote renewable energy and using the extra 60 cents to help fund an offshore wind investment fund. The bill also called for a new charge on natural gas bills to raise $1.50 a month to seed money to the same fund. "
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