Statement on Clean Energy Bill
October 23, 2024 - The Metropolitan Area Planning Council issued the following statement today from MAPC Deputy Executive Director, Lizzi Weyant, regarding the release of S.2967, An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers by the Conference Committee:
“I served on the Commission on Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting, and MAPC is so pleased to see the many similarities with the Commission’s recommendations, including the implementation of consolidated local permitting and a cumulative impact analysis.
We are grateful to Chair Barrett, Chair Roy, and the members of the Conference Committee for crafting a bill that will substantially improve the Commonwealth's ability to meet our emission reduction goals and increase the prevalence of renewable energy.
We are particularly thankful that the bill includes representation for regional planning agencies on a number of important boards and councils, which will help provide the Commonwealth with a regional perspective on these important issues. This bill also goes beyond energy siting and includes other crucial policies -- such as simplifying the process of procuring EV cars and buses for our municipalities, allowing for solar panels in historic districts, and creating a clean energy infrastructure dashboard that will help the Commonwealth to stay on top of our renewable energy goals.
We look forward to seeing the implementation of policies that MAPC and our partners have long advocated for and look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature to pass new environmental priorities as well as those that that did not make it into the bill this session. We hope the Legislature will move expeditiously in passing this important bill."
PRESS CONTACT
Tim Viall
Senior Communications Specialist
[email protected]
C: 508-965-0456