The pleasant, light green foliage of spring was met in Franklin County this week with two bits of good news on the energy front.
Oil giant Kinder Morgan formally withdrew its application to the federal government to build a natural gas pipeline through the county, the final nail in the coffin of a proposal that would have cut a swath through protected forests, farms and fields of this historically conservation-conscious region.
Around the same time, our state leaders moved closer to a long-term energy policy that encourages not gas pipeline infrastructure that would tie us to petroleum products for decades, but rather requires electric utilities to invest in clean wind and hydro power.
Canadian hydropower and offshore wind projects would become more prominent pieces of the state’s overall energy landscape under a long-awaited bill House lawmakers unveiled Monday.
While renewable energy advocates have said the bill does not go far enough, it sure beats a 30-inch diameter pipeline running under the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers.
The measure requires utilities to solicit long-term contracts of 15 to 20 years with providers of hydroelectricity and offshore wind — a step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and replacing energy that has left or will be leaving the New England energy grid in the coming years, including the scheduled 2019 shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth.
The House bill calls for importing an additional 1,200 megawatts each of Canadian hydro and offshore wind. The wind projects would be limited to federal waters only.
Environmental groups had called on lawmakers to include at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind. A single megawatt can power up to 1,000 homes.
The state Senate is likely to draft its own version of the bill, with yet a different mix of green priorities.
The good news is that all three branches of our state government want to grow our green energy portfolio. They may have to work out a compromise on how much hydro and how much wind, but that’s far preferable to staying stuck in the fossil fuel age. Even Saudi Arabia’s young leadership is trying to get out of that game in the long term.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal does not specifically address offshore wind and calls for procuring twice as much hydro as the House bill. But the governor on Monday, reflecting on the House bill, said he was pleased to see the discussion move forward.
So are we, and we’re sure the same is true for those pipeline foes who are taking a victory lap this week.