Thousands of bills are filed each year in the Massachusetts legislature. Every bill gets a hearing, but only very small number will be enacted into law. Multiple bills on the same (or related) subject will frequently be combined during the legislative process.
We’ve selected some of the bills relevant to energy and sustainability in the table below. Going forward, we will provide explanations and additional information on the bills, and will track their progress (or failure to progress) through the legislature. We will add additional bills as we are able to evaluate them for relevance and potential.
| Bill Number | Status Update | Sponsor | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.2545 | 2018/06/07 - Reported from Senate Ways and Means | Pacheco (as S.2302) | An Act to promote a clean energy future This is updated version of the Senate's Omnibus Energy Bill |
| H.4575 (Redraft of H.1747 | 2018/06/07 - New draft reported favorably TUE and sent to House Ways & Means | Haddad (as H.1747) | An Act to increase renewable energy and reduce high-cost peak hours A proposed "Clean Peak" standard and an increase in the RPS. |
| H.4577 (Redraft of H.2712) | 2018/06/07 - New draft reported favorably TUE and sent to House Steering Policy & Scheduling | Smizik (as H2712) | An act relative to net metering Increases the public & private net metering caps by 2% each |
| S.2302 Supserseded by S.2545 | 2018/06/07 - New draft of S.479 reported favorably as S.2545 2018/02/14 - Reported from the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, recommending passage. S.2302 is a new draft for S.479, also based on Senate, Nos. 477, 478, changed and 1974 and House, No. 3994. | Pacheco (as S.2302) | An Act to promote a clean energy future This is the Senate's Omnibus Energy Bill. Read a excellent summary of S.2303 by Tim Cronin, a Policy Associate at the Climate Action Business Association. |
| S.1878 | 2018/02/15 - New draft superseding H.2121 & S.424 reported favorably by Environment, Natural Resources & Agriculature Committee and sent to House Ways & Means | Eldridge, Ehrlich & co-sponsors | An Act reducing plastic bag pollution. |
| S.1821 | 2018/02/08 - Discharged from TUE to the committee on Senate Global Warming and Climate Change. | Barrett | An Act combating climate change Establishes an economy-wide price on carbon that begins at $10/ton and increases to $40/ton, with the proceeds to be rebated to residents and employers. |
| S.1876 | 2018/02/07 - Reporting date extended to Friday March 9, 2018. | Pacheco | An Act relative to enhancing RPS standards The Renewable Portfolio Standard is the most important driver of the transition to clean electricity . |
| S.1841 | 2018/02/07 - Reporting date extended to Friday March 9, 2018. | Donoghue | An Act expediting the transition to a renewable energy portfolio |
| S.1878 | 2017/10/03 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Pacheco | An Act relative to solar mobility systems |
| S.1873 | 2017/09/26 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Pacheco | An Act relative to solar siting |
| S.1849 | 2017/09/19 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Eldridge | An Act transitioning Massachusetts to 100 percent renewable energy |
| H.3392 | 2017/06/20 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Cusack | An Act relative to establishing standard interconnection timelines for distributed generation facilities |
| S.1726 | 2017/06/20 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Benson | An Act to promote green infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs Establishes an economy-wide price on carbon beginning at $20/ton, increasing $5 per year until reaching $40/ton. 20% of the proceeds would be allocated to a "green infrastructure" fund, with the other 80% rebated to customers. |
| S.1869 | 2017/06/20 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Pacheco | An Act to protect our environment and lower our carbon footprint. Adds the option of an economy-wide price on carbon to the mechanisms by which mandated GHG emissions can be achieved. Requires EoEEA to establish a carbon pricing mechanism if 2020 GHG emissions targets are not met. |
| S.1834 | 2017/05/02 - Heard by TUE. No action since. | Cyr | An Act for community empowerment Would allow municipalities, with Town Meeting approval, to contract with a developer to build a renewable energy project. The net financial benefit would pass through to the residents in the cost of electricity. Residents would automatically participate unless they chose to opt out. |
