HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3223        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3188

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

John J. Mahoney

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to hydro.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3223        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3188

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3311 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to hydro.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 11F of Chapter 25A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsections (c) and (d) and inserting in place thereof the following subsections:

(c) New and relicensed renewable energy generating sources meeting the requirements of this subsection shall be known as Class I renewable energy generating sources. For the purposes of this subsection, a Class I renewable energy generating source is one that began commercial operation after December 31, 1997, or represents the net increase from incremental new generating capacity after December 31, 1997 at an existing facility, or receives a new license after January 1, 2021 under 18 C.F.R. 16 et seq., where the facility generates electricity using any of the following: (1) solar photovoltaic or solar thermal electric energy; (2) wind energy; (3) ocean thermal, wave or tidal energy; (4) fuel cells utilizing renewable fuels; (5) landfill gas; (6) energy generated by new and relicensed hydroelectric facilities, or incremental new energy from increased capacity or efficiency improvements at existing hydroelectric facilities; provided, however, that (i) each such new or relicensed facility or increased capacity or efficiency at each such existing facility must meet appropriate and site-specific environmental standards that address adequate and healthy river flows, water quality standards, fish passage and protection measures and mitigation and enhancement opportunities in the impacted watershed as determined by the department in consultation with relevant state and federal agencies having oversight and jurisdiction over hydropower facilities; (ii) in any case in which: (a) pursuant to action initiated with or by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, hereinafter referred to as FERC, after January 1, 2000, FERC reviewed and approved an increase of capacity or efficiency at an existing facility, or (b) pursuant to action initiated with or by FERC after January 1, 2009, FERC reviewed and approved a new facility, then such increased capacity or efficiency at each such new or existing facility shall be deemed by the department to have satisfied the environmental standards required by sub-clause (i), and except as limited by sub-clause (iv), shall, upon application, be qualified as a Class I renewable energy generating source, without further review; (iii) all facilities, once qualified, either by meeting the terms of the immediately preceding sub-section (ii) or otherwise shall, remain qualified, so long as they annually certify that they have substantially met the operating conditions placed upon them by FERC; (iii) only energy from new and relicensed facilities having a capacity up to 30 megawatts or attributable to improvements that incrementally increase capacity or efficiency by up to 30 megawatts at an existing hydroelectric facility shall qualify; and (iv) no such facility shall involve pumped storage of water or construction of any new dam or water diversion structure constructed later than January 1, 1998; (7) low emission advanced biomass power conversion technologies using fuels such as wood, by-products or waste from agricultural crops, food or animals, energy crops, biogas, liquid biofuel including but not limited to biodiesel, organic refuse-derived fuel, or algae; (8) marine or hydrokinetic energy as defined in section 3; or (9) geothermal energy. A Class I renewable generating source may be located behind the customer meter within the ISO-NE control area if the output is verified by an independent verification system participating in the NEPOOL GIS accounting system and approved by the department.

(d) Every retail electric supplier providing service under contracts executed or extended on or after January 1, 2009, shall provide a minimum percentage of kilowatt-hour sales to end-use customers in the commonwealth from Class II renewable energy generating sources. For the purposes of this section, a Class II renewable energy generating source is one that began commercial operation before December 31, 1997 and generates electricity using any of the following: (1) solar photovoltaic or solar thermal electric energy; (2) wind energy; (3) ocean thermal, wave or tidal energy; (4) fuel cells utilizing renewable fuels; (5) landfill gas; (6) energy generated by existing hydroelectric facilities; provided, however, that: (i) such existing facilities shall meet appropriate and site-specific environmental standards that address adequate and healthy river flows, water quality standards, fish passage and protection measures and mitigation and enhancement opportunities in the impacted watershed as determined by the department in consultation with relevant state and federal agencies having oversight and jurisdiction over hydropower facilities; (ii) once the department has, by appropriate means, determined that an existing facility meets the environmental standards required by sub-clause (i), such existing facility shall be qualified as a Class II renewable energy generating source; (iii) any facilities, once so qualified shall remain qualified so long as they annually certify, to the satisfaction of the department, that they have substantially met the operating conditions placed upon them by FERC; and (iv) only energy from existing facilities up to 7.5 megawatts shall be considered renewable energy and no such facility shall involve pumped storage of water nor construction of any new dam or water diversion structure constructed later than January 1, 1998; (7) waste-to-energy which is a component of conventional municipal solid waste plant technology in commercial use; (8) low emission advanced biomass power conversion technologies using fuels such as wood, by-products or waste from agricultural crops, food or animals, energy crops, biogas, liquid biofuel including but not limited to biodiesel, organic refuse-derived fuel, or algae; (9) marine or hydrokinetic energy as defined in section 3; or (10) geothermal energy. A facility in clause (7) shall not be a Class II renewable generating source unless it operates or contracts for one or more recycling programs approved by the department of environmental protection. At least 50 per cent of any revenue received by the facility through the sale of Massachusetts RPS-eligible renewable energy certificates shall be allocated to such recycling programs. A facility in clause (6) that receives a new license after January 1, 2021 under 18 C.F.R. 16 et seq. and provides formal notification to the department that the facility seeks to participate as a Class I renewable generating source, shall no longer be a Class II renewable generating source.  A Class II renewable generating source may be located behind the customer meter within the ISO-NE control area provided that the output is verified by an independent verification system participating in the NEPOOL GIS accounting system and approved by the department.