Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 29, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 19 E N E R G Y & S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y F O C U S Community Legal Aid JOIN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE! 370 Main Street, 2 00 Worcester, MA 01608 855-252-5342 COMMUNITYLEGAL.ORG 2022 - 2023 ACCESS TO JUSTICE COMMITTEE Community Legal Aid, a Communi Legal Aid Francis Ford Hon. Luis G. Perez (Ret.) nonprofit organization, is thanks the following local Ford Mediation Kneeland, Gribouski & Mooradian the free civil legal aid attorneys for serving on the Carlos Nicholas Formaggia Maria Rivera-Cotto provider for residents of 2022 - 2023 Worcester Law Office of Carlos N. Formaggia Law Office of Maria M. Rivera-Cotto Central and Western Coun Access to Justice Mass. We work to ensure Committee. Matthew Frascella Elizabeth Morse access to justice for all, The Hanover Insurance Group Wickstrom Morse, LLP protecting homes, Lynette Paczkowski, Chair Elizabeth K. Halloran Hon. Luis G. Perez (Ret.) livelihoods, health and Bowditch & Dewey, LLP Tansley Halloran Glickman, Sugarman, Kneeland & families. Gribouski Leonardo Angiulo Pamela Heacock Angiulo Law Office UMass Memorial Health Maria Rivera-Cotto Thanks to the following Law Office of Maria M. Rivera-Cotto Justice Advocate and Justice Michael Badger Lianne Henderson Badger Legal Group Committee for Public Counsel Todd Rodman Leader business donors: Services Seder & Chandler, LLP Douglas Brown Corey Higgins Benjamin Rudolf BOWDITCH UMass Memorial Health Mirick O'Connell Murphy & Rudolf, LLP Jesse Caplan ATTORNEYS Affiliated Monitors Shaun McDonough Jonathan Sigel FL con Mirick O'Connell MIRICK O'C0 ll Robin DeAugustinis Edward McIntyre Dolores Thibault-Munoz A T T O R N E Y S A T L AW Mountain, Dearborn & Whiting, LLP McIntyre Mediation NewVue Communities §SEDER LAW Brian P. Doherty Elizabeth Morse Patrick C. Tinsley ATTORNEYS I Est. 1918 Boyle I Shaughnessy Law PC Wickstrom Morse, LLP Fletcher Tilton, PC Ten Towns pilot program Official name: Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project Purpose: 10 cities and towns in Mass. will ban fossil-fuel hookups in new buildings. Agency running the program: Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Tentative timeline: DOER is expected to have final regulations for the program ready by July 1, with a call for applications from cities and town by Sept. 1. The final timeline is subject to change by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Towns tentatively slated for the program: Arlington, Lexington, Brookline, Acton, Concord, Cambridge, Lincoln, Newton, West Tisbury, and Aquinnah Source: State House News Service West Tisbury – are located on Martha's Vineyard, where New Bedford- based Vineyard Wind is planning a 62-turbine offshore wind farm whose construction is supposed to begin within weeks, according to May 15 reporting from e Martha's Vineyard Times. e wind farm will be located 15 miles south of the island and is expected to begin producing power by the end of 2023. Vineyard Wind bills itself as the country's first utility-scale offshore wind energy project and predicts it will generate electricity equivalent to powering 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. Panelists at the energy summit highlighted the project several times and identified offshore wind as a clean energy realm where the United States is behind, relative to Western Europe, where O'Connor said wind farms have been functional for about a decade, resulting in established supply chains and experience-based technical know- how. To get to that point will require a concerted effort. All of the projects panelists referenced required some level of cooperation from local and state government groups, as well as local business and residential communities, including the Ten Towns program, Vineyard Wind, and municipal aggregation – a process through which local governments can purchase electricity in bulk from a supplier on behalf of ratepayers, typically resulting in lower costs. Moving the state toward its 2050 goals will require that type of multi-sector cooperation as programs develop and come on board. Solving the NIMBY problem Panel moderator Michael Ahern, director of power systems at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, summed up the discussion around barriers as a need to restructure the power wholesale market, acquire technical expertise to build offshore wind, and expedite the permitting process for large-scale power-producing projects, which oen face siting challenges, including those related to community environmental and aesthetic concerns, as was the case on the Vineyard. "Ignoring community complaint is not the solution, either," Troy said, arguing stakeholders need to increase engagement and transparency around clean energy initiatives, which includes deflecting the idea that promoting alternative energy is an ideological endeavor. Instead, she encouraged attendees to remember clean energy results in real cost savings, including for businesses. To get there, the state provides a number of incentive programs to help and encourage business leaders to shi their energy sourcing toward renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, among them the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, an economic development agency helping business owners connect with the right programs for them. e agency works with and supports decarbonizing building, clean transportation, net- zero grid initiatives, as well as offshore wind, according to its website. "We all need to try and get over our inertia and reluctance to change," O'Connor said. Vendors at the Mass Energy Summit discussed various products and initiatives designed to help the Massachusetts economy operate more sustainably. W

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