House Speaker Ron Mariano last week announced that the House will seek to eliminate the offshore wind price cap this session to encourage greater competition for the state’s clean power projects, but a key senator said he is not as sure that’s the way to go.
Sen. Michael Barrett, who chairs the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee for the Senate, said he spoke with the two eligible developers that took a pass on the latest Massachusetts offshore wind solicitation about their reasoning and does not want to jump to any one conclusion.
There is “a mix of things” going on and Massachusetts should be “careful about settling on policy directions for the next wave of offshore development,” Barrett said.
“We should get things in place, no question. But there is room for reasonable disagreement here,” said the Lexington Democrat, who will likely be the Senate’s lead negotiator if and when the Legislature passes additional offshore wind or climate policy legislation later this session. “I don’t think that simply lifting the cap altogether is a very good way to protect Massachusetts ratepayers; we do have the highest electric rates in the nation.”
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