Tuesday, June 19, 2018

A Comprehensive State Energy Plan

To help combat and mitigate the impacts of climate change, the Senate has now adopted legislation, S.2545, An Act To Promote A Clean Energy Future, which will produce measurable benefits in the health of our environment and residents.

Several of the amendments that I sponsored where adopted by the Senate including one that will generate, every three years, a comprehensive energy plan that would be based upon reasonable projections of our state’s energy demands for electricity. By better understanding what our state’s energy consumption has been, and likely will be in the future, we can be better informed as we make decisions that are good for the environment and that are cost effective.

I have advocated for this commonsense assessment tool for several years and I was pleased that Governor Charlie Baker included it as a key component of his Executive Order - Number 569, Establishing an Integrated Climate Change Strategy for the Commonwealth. My amendment was added to the final Senate bill with the support of my Senate colleagues. By periodically publishing a comprehensive energy plan, which will include reasonable projections of the Commonwealth’s energy demands for electricity, transportation, and building heat and air condition, we will help guide our strategies to meet our planned energy efficiency and conservation goals.