News Clips

CommonWealth Magazine

Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington has outlined his position previously — that reaching the state’s emission goals hinges on electrification of transportation and heating and low electricity prices make that task possible — but the footnoted letter dived into the details.

Barrett said the state’s procurements have attracted respectable onshore economic development — including the promise of a transmission cable factory at Brayton Point in Somerset — while keeping the price of offshore wind electricity well below the price in every other state. He noted Massachusetts prices have been 43 percent, 68 percent, and 100 percent less than similar deals in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, respectively.

Removing the cap, Barrett said, would put Massachusetts at the mercy of a handful of offshore wind companies that he described as an oligopoly. “We can’t count on competition to substitute for a price cap,” he said.

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WBUR

State Sen. Michael Barrett, the co-chair of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, argued the cap has kept the price per kilowatt-hour from Massachusetts projects lower than in neighboring states, like New York and Connecticut.

“My request to you is that you not walk away from the wisdom that has assured us getting a break today,” he told Baker.

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Boston Globe

House chair of the Legislature’s energy committee, Representative Jeff Roy, supports removing the price cap. But his cochair, Senator Mike Barrett, pleaded against it, arguing it could cause electricity prices to jump and thereby put ratepayers at risk.

He noted New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, none of which have caps on the price of offshore wind projects, have each paid much more for offshore wind than Massachusetts has so far. For instance, while power from the Commonwealth’s Mayflower Wind project will come with a cost of $58 per megawatt hour, New Jersey is paying twice that much for energy from its Ocean Wind project.

“I want to ask the two of you whether you want to run the risk of these kinds of figures if we simply jettison the cap altogether,” Barrett said, addressing Baker and Theoharides.

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Concord Wicked Local

“Given the stakes, it’s fair to say the nation itself will be on the ballot. But while this is true, it is not the only thing that is true. The nation will be on the ballot again in 2024. And 2026. And 2028. The divisions that haunt the United States are not going to heal in any one election cycle,” Barrett said in his speech. “Now there are those who say that we face nothing less than the death of American democracy in 2022. I respectfully disagree. You could say we face the essence of American democracy in 2022. Because nothing is more essential to democracy — this year and every year — than our striving to move a country of 329 million closer to being the best possible version of itself.”

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Boston Globe

In 2022, the most important thing to watch is the ground game.  The heart of the matter is the shift from high-level goal-setting to ground-level execution.  Time to electrify our cars, trucks, and buses; electrify our homes and businesses; and green the grid. 

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Wicked Local

Barrett, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Energy, was a key sponsor of the Massachusetts Net Zero climate action legislation, signed into law earlier this year. 

Reigning in climate change and keeping the anticipated temperature increase at the targeted, agreed upon 1.5 degrees centigrade, depends on local advocacy.  Barrett said the greening of the electrical grid, weaning from fossil fuels in the production of electricity, greening of new construction, both residential and commercial and industrial and the transportation sector, is the state’s challenge. 

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Gloucester Daily Times

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would unseal all public records after 90 years that were kept on individuals with mental or physical disabilities and who lived in places like the Fernald School and other state institutions. Currently those records are sealed under health privacy laws, or heavily redacted if they are released.

Sen. Michael Barrett, who filed the Senate version of the bill, said there is a need to retain some privacy for individuals, “but there also needs to be research and truth telling,” he told the news service.

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WBUR

“Advocates and lawmakers repeatedly pointed Tuesday to the climate law that Gov. Charlie Baker signed in March, which commits Massachusetts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and requires interim emissions reduction goals between now and the middle of the century.  

“The state’s new climate law also calls for a municipal opt-in net-zero stretch energy code that addresses the use of gas in new buildings, and by next summer the administration is required to set 2025 emissions sublimits for various sectors, including commercial and residential heating and cooling, and natural gas distribution and service.” 

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Boston Globe

This is a serious challenge to our climate planning.  Plan B needs to be brought along quickly. 

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Lexington Wicked Local

Sen. Mike Barrett has made it a priority over the years to focus on the effect of climate change on Massachusetts.  Now, he is taking to the international stage in an effort to galvanize Bay State residents and outside parties into taking immediate action on climate change and its impacts. 

“This is the rubber-hits-the-road moment for international climate change negotiations,” Barrett said.  “This nitty gritty, close-up question of execution is a tough one.  What we need to do in Glasgow is to come up with some international standards for state and city actions.” 

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