The Massachusetts House of Representatives enacted H.4377, which will require the state’s utilities to solicit long-term energy contracts for 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind power in multiple procurements through the year 2027.
State Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, cited his city’s history as an energy powerhouse for more than a century at the time when whale oil was a primary source of energy. After the energy industry shifted to oil, coal and natural gas, he said, Massachusetts became “the end of the pipeline.”
Cabral said the bill has a chance to rejuvenate Massachusetts’ status as a center of clean energy as the offshore wind industry develops here. “This bill begins a step in that direction of us being in the beginning of the pipeline of energy,” Cabral said.
Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, D-Somerset, a supporter of expanding offshore wind power, said if Massachusetts does not start procuring wind power, “There are tons of people nipping at our heels,” particularly the state of New York.