Massachusetts House of Representatives moves toward vote on how to boost renewable energy

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts House of Representatives on Wednesday was poised to approve a bill that would help boost the state’s reliance on renewable energy, in part by streamlining the state and local permitting process for projects that shift the state away from its use of fossil fuels.

Wednesday’s debate came just weeks after the Massachusetts Senate approved its own bill to help the state meet its climate goals, including achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said the bill aims to increase the supply of clean energy through new renewable energy projects, increasing storage capacity and streamlining the permitting process.

The measure proposed by the House of Representatives aims to consolidate permitting at the state and local levels and set a 12- to 15-month time limit for all final permit decisions to be processed, echoing language in the Senate bill.

The House proposal also calls for additional clean energy resources, including from existing nuclear generation, and allows future contracts for offshore wind and clean energy to be extended to 30 years. They are currently limited to 20 years.

The chamber is also considering allowing companies that want to build small clean energy infrastructure facilities to submit a single permit application for all required approvals.

To encourage people to buy electric cars, the state Department of Energy Resources will be required to assess the need for charging stations along highways, major roads and service areas by 2045 and identify locations for a statewide network of fast-charging stations.

“Localization and permitting are probably the biggest obstacle to achieving our 2050 goals,” Democratic Rep. Jeffrey Roy told reporters.

The House of Representatives and Senate still need to work out one compromise version of the bill, which they will send to Gov. Maura Healey.

The formal session of Parliament ends on July 31, so the final version of the bill must reach Healey’s desk by then.