Massachusetts’ 2023/24 legislative session closed in the morning of Aug. 1 without any significant climate or clean energy legislation despite broad agreement on proposed clean energy permitting and siting reforms.

With the end of Massachusetts’ legislative session looming, lawmakers are on the clock to reach an agreement on a major climate bill centered around clean energy permitting and siting reform.

Panelists at a forum convened by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Federal and Regional Energy Affairs said advanced transmission technologies will be essential to limiting transmission costs.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has expedited the state’s review process for municipal aggregation plans.

Ten East Coast states signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a framework to coordinate interregional transmission planning and development.

Massachusetts’ new Office of Energy Transformation will focus on cutting peaker plant emissions, eliminating the state’s reliance on the Everett Marine Terminal LNG import facility, and financing distribution grid upgrades that minimizes costs.

Early and meaningful engagement with host communities will be an essential component of expediting energy permitting and siting processes, panelists said at a New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable.

Top utility commissioners from four New England states emphasized the need for regulatory innovation to preserve affordability amid the clean energy transition at the New England Energy Conference and Exposition.

Battery storage remains largely reliant on state programs and subsidies to be viable in Massachusetts but could increasingly stand on its own as renewable energy proliferates, a panel of energy storage experts said.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved agreements between Constellation Energy and the state’s investor-owned gas utilities to keep the Everett LNG import facility operating through May 2030.