Ordered, That, the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy shall conduct a review to determine the opportunities for sustainable and cost-effective market deployment of renewable natural gas and low-carbon fuels to reduce emissions associated with the supply of natural gas for heating in the Commonwealth. 

The Committee shall look at the role renewable natural gas and hydrogen, and other possible fuel sources, may contribute to the Commonwealth achieving its net zero emission targets.  The Committee shall study and make recommendations to inform policy decisions about the development and utilization of renewable natural gas and low-carbon hydrogen for heating end-uses, including the opportunity to utilize offshore wind facilities for the production of low-carbon hydrogen and synthetic methane (power-to-gas) as part of the achievement of the Commonwealth’s climate and energy goals.

The Committee will carry out its work in two sequential parts.

(a) Part 1 will study the opportunities and impediments to non-geologic gas, and provide a technical foundation for future policy determinations, including both the utilization of renewable heating fuels and the supply of these fuels.  The review shall investigate the potential for these fuels to lower customer barriers to adoption, such as customer heating equipment conversion costs or associated building efficiency upgrades, as well as the role these fuels could play in decarbonizing certain classes of buildings. The review shall encompass in-state production potential of renewable heating fuels, as well as co-benefits of production, such as enabling the management of food and animal waste, and other feedstocks, in the most cost-effective manner, as well as the potential for renewable electrolysis to support the integration of offshore wind generation into the regional energy markets.

(b) Part 2 will review the role renewable heating fuels can play in enabling short-term and long-term GHG emissions reductions as replacement fuels for geologic natural gas in the heating sector. This shall include an analysis of and recommendations of policies that can support sustainable and cost-effective market deployment of renewable natural gas and hydrogen to reduce heating sector emissions, based on the technical foundation developed in Part 1.

The Committee shall consult with additional experts from academia, engineering and consulting organizations; national organizations representing developers, producers, including agriculture and wastewater treatment entities.

The Committee shall file a report with its findings, including any legislative and regulatory recommendations, with the clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the Senate and House Committees on Ways and Means, not later than 12 months after the effective date of this Act.