Massachusetts
Governor
Maura Healey (Democrat)
House Party
Democratic Supermajority
Senate Party
Democratic Supermajority
Key Offices & Links
54
13
Northeast
Progress by Policy Area
- Enacted Enacted policies have been passed or established in a state by a governing body via legislation, executive orders, rules, regulations, and/or other program creation, and remain in effect.
- In-progress In progress policies have been established in a state, but final regulations, rules, or plans are pending final approval. This also includes legislation and executive orders that require regulations to be put into effect.
- Partially Enacted Partially enacted policies have been enacted in the state, but are missing one or more policy components. Dashboard policies cannot be considered partially enacted unless policy components are available.
- Not Enacted Not enacted policies have not been passed or established in the state or are no longer in effect.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Massachusetts
Climate Policies in Massachusetts
| Status | Policy | Policy Area | Policy Category | Year Enacted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enacted |
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | 2021 | ||
| Enacted |
Empty column
53% reduction by 2025 | 70% by 2030 | 93% by 2050, relative to 1990 levels Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | 2021 | |
| Enacted |
Empty column
Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030 Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Energy Plans and Targets | 2022 | |
| Enacted |
Empty column
The Energy Facilities Siting Board oversees siting and permitting processes for large clean energy projects, and must issue or reject a permit within 15 months. For smaller projects, municipalities retain control over the permitting process, but permits must be issued or rejected within 12 months. For both small and large projects, applications will get automatic approval if these deadlines aren’t met. Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Permitting and Grid Integration | 2024 | |
| Enacted |
Empty column
Massachusetts received a C grade from Freeing the Grid. Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Permitting and Grid Integration | 2023 | |
| Enacted |
Empty column
The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board must determine whether sufficient consideration was given to the use of advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) when reviewing proposals for transmission infrastructure, and the Department of Public Utilities must study the use, costs and benefits, and impediments to ATT deployment. Utilities must also conduct analyses related to the deployment of ATTs and grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), and they enabled to propose rate incentives to encourage the deployment of such technologies. Utilities must make a filing with the legislature and grid operator every five years on the deployment of ATTs. Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Permitting and Grid Integration | 2024 | |
| Partially Enacted |
Empty column
The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies
Policy Components
9/11
|
Electricity
|
Permitting and Grid Integration | ||
| Partially Enacted |
Empty column
The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies
Policy Components
4/6
|
Electricity
|
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources | ||
| Enacted |
Empty column
Massachusetts has an active community choice aggregation program. Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources | 1997 | |
| Partially Enacted |
Empty column
The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies
Policy Components
4/5
|
Electricity
|
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources | ||
| Enacted |
Empty column
200 megawatts (MW) of storage capacity by 2020, 1,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) by 2025, and 5,000 MWh by 2030 Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources | 2024 | |
| Enacted |
Empty column
In 2014, the owner of the last coal plant in Massachusetts, Brayton Point, informed ISO-NE of its decision to retire the plant's four units by June 1, 2017. Establishing Policies
|
Electricity
|
Coal Retirement | 2017 | |
| Not Enacted |
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Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers. |
Electricity
|
Coal Retirement |