House legislation that would open up Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to large-scale, renewable energy projects is likely to face opposition in the Senate, based on reaction from Senate leaders. The House passed an oceans bill Wednesday that would allow renewable energy development along most of the state's coastline. Critics say it would also remove a major obstacle before Boston developer Jay Cashman's proposal to put up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Currently, renewable energy projects only can be put in ocean sanctuaries under special circumstances. The waters off the Cape Cod National Seashore would still be exempt from renewable energy projects.

A House bill that would open up Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to large-scale renewable energy projects is likely to face serious opposition in the Senate, based on reaction from Senate leaders yesterday. The House passed an oceans bill Wednesday that would allow renewable energy development along most of the state's coastline, including sanctuaries. Critics say it also would remove a major obstacle to Boston developer Jay Cashman's proposal for as many as 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Currently, renewable energy projects only can be put in ocean sanctuaries under special circumstances. ...House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who supports the provision, has said it resolves conflicts in the law. He argues renewable energy projects would still be subject to federal, state and local review. He has denied it was a favor to Cashman, a close friend.

The state House of Representatives approved an ocean management bill last night that would allow renewable energy projects in ocean sanctuaries, removing a major obstacle to a proposal by developer Jay Cashman to build up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Cashman is a close friend of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston. The oceans bill won preliminary approval from the House, 143-6. It will eventually move to a House-Senate conference panel. The ocean sanctuaries provision has less support in the Senate. ...Rep. Eric Turkington, D-Falmouth, said both the House and Senate ocean bills would allow wind turbines in ocean sanctuaries in some fashion. "The debate about whether wind turbines will be allowed on the Massachusetts coast is over," Turkington said. "The final debate is what's appropriate and where it's appropriate and what compensation the host communities get."

When the House amended an energy bill last November to remove an obstacle to the placement of wind turbines in Buzzards Bay, critics complained that it was done with little notice and no debate. ...House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has said the amendment merely resolves conflicting language in state law that allowed traditional generating facilities, but not renewables like wind or tidal energy in state waters. Rep. DiMasi said renewable projects would still be subject to local and state approvals. But critics, including several leading environmental groups, say it would open the door to unlimited renewable energy development in Buzzards Bay and most of the Massachusetts coast. It would remove a major obstacle to a proposal by Boston developer Jay Cashman to place up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Mr. Cashman and Rep. DiMasi are close friends, though Rep. DiMasi denies the legislation is a favor.

The Berkshire Wind Project, a $25 million, 10-turbine wind energy project on Brodie Mountain that is facing two lawsuits, is under contract to be sold to a municipal utility consortium for $4 million. Once the sale is completed in May, the new ownership status could render one pending lawsuit moot and prevent new lawsuits from further delaying the project. ...A lawsuit against the project by Silverleaf Resorts, which plans a 332-unit, $42 million condominium project at the former Brodie ski area site off Route 7, has entered a motion to dismiss the legal proceedings. Another lawsuit brought by Silverleaf Resorts and two residents of Hancock, which alleges that a special permit had expired before construction of the project started and that the special permit was not issued legally, could become moot upon completion of the sale. MMWEC, created by the Legislature in 1975, is owned by municipally owned utility companies. It's a nonprofit, publicly owned corporation, and a political subdivision of the state. As such, MMWEC is exempt from local zoning regulations, which would render the second lawsuit no legal grounds.

During the Oct. 9 selectmen meeting, Mr. Pitney offered a guarantee that the town would recoup its $18,400 investment through savings in 13 years or he would pay the difference. Town officials have said the installment plan fairly translates that guarantee into contractual language. It was included in the revised contract signed by selectmen Oct. 22. However, Mr. Pitney said he never agreed to what he considers a no-interest financing scheme. "I'm not a bank that loans money out at zero percent interest," Mr. Pitney said in an interview last week. ...Town Meeting's appropriation of $63,400 for the effort remains on the books and must be acted on one way or another, Mr. Coughlin said. If Mr. Pitney drops out, the town probably would have to advertise for bids for a new contractor, he said. Mr. Pitney said that since selectmen signed the contract, MTC has instituted a new standard contract for wind turbine projects. He said he probably will include a copy of that standard contract with his response to the selectmen.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who outraged legislators from coastal communities by ramming through an amendment changing an ocean-protection law that could help a close friend's wind-farm plan, promised yesterday there will be a full debate and vote on the amendment. The pledge was made two months after the House passed a wide-ranging energy bill that had a last-minute DiMasi amendment exempting offshore wind farms from certain restrictions in the state's Ocean Sanctuaries Act. The act bans or sharply restricts most construction in waters close to shore. The only pending proposal directly helped by the amendment, critics said, is a 120-turbine wind project off Dartmouth and Mattapoisett proposed by Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy said yesterday that a wind farm located in Rhode Island waters between Newport and Block Island would be a bad idea because it would hurt the state’s tourism and fishing industries. Those waterways are frequently used by people who sail between the two locations for recreation and racing, said Kennedy, a recreational sailor. “I’m sorry, you can’t tell me that’s not going to affect tourism, the fishing industry and everything else. It just is. There is no other convincing me that it won’t,” he said. ...Asked whether he thought there was any site in Rhode Island waters that would be suitable for a wind farm, Kennedy said, “I don’t think it would be a good idea. A lot of it depends … we’re talking size, location.” He backed off a bit from that statement, saying “I’d have to take a look at it. ... I wouldn’t rule it out.”

The state Senate unanimously passed an energy bill tonight that was as newsworthy for what it left out as for what it contained. The Senate dropped a controversial House provision that critics say would open ocean sanctuaries to unlimited renewable energy development, including a major windmill project in Buzzards Bay. The Senate also rejected a House proposal to transfer the administration of $25 million in renewable energy funds from the quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to a new agency in Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration. The Senate would keep the MTC independent, but it created an oversight panel to report back on its renewable energy programs.

The massive offshore wind farms proposed for Nantucket Sound and Buzzards Bay generate most of the headlines. But most of the progress in renewable energy in Massachusetts this year will be seen among much smaller turbine projects. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative estimates that 10 wind turbine projects could be built and connected to the grid in 2008. Nearly all of them, however, are just one- or two-turbine projects.

A senate committee blocked a proposal by House Speaker Sal DiMasi to move the Renewable Energy Trust from the control of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. In an energy reform bill filed by DiMasi earlier this year, the trust was put under the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.. ..."We didn't want to blow them up. We did think there should be better collaboration between them and the administration," Panagiotakos said. "The administration will be able to advise and have consent over a small portion of funds."

Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi are heading toward a tussle over state energy policy as the Senate takes up its version of DiMasi's bill to promote "green power" and conservation. ...Murray's measure, which goes to senators for a vote Wednesday, also thwarts several DiMasi priorities in a bill that the speaker called the House's "signature accomplishment" in 2007. Among other changes, the Senate bill scraps DiMasi's $2,000 state income tax break for hybrid car buyers, which Murray said the state can't afford. She also rejects DiMasi's effort to weaken the state Ocean Sanctuaries Act, an environmental protection measure, to clear the way for offshore wind farms such as Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman's planned 120-turbine project in Buzzards Bay and a smaller project off Hull. And Murray also rides to the res ue of the state Renewable Energy Trust, which is funded by a 25-cent-a-month tax on utility bills and has faced widespread criticism for failing to generate significant amounts of renewable energy in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Senate leaders have drafted an energy bill that drops a House amendment to open Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to what critics say would be unlimited renewable energy development. The amendment, which was backed by House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, would directly benefit a proposal by Boston developer Jay Cashman to build up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. His proposal is being reviewed by the state. ...The House has contended the law as currently written allows traditional electric generating facilities in the sanctuaries, but not renewable energy. Environmental groups disagree, saying only uses like transmission lines and gas lines are allowed in the sanctuaries, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Massachusetts Senate leaders have drafted an energy bill that drops a House amendment to open Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to what critics say would be unlimited renewable energy development. The amendment, which was backed by House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, would directly benefit a proposal by Boston developer Jay Cashman to build up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. His proposal is being reviewed by the state. Individual senators could always move to amend the bill to include the House's proposal, but Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, doubted it would end up in the Senate's final energy package.

Governor Deval Patrick's administration proposed several changes to state environmental-protection laws yesterday that could help speed construction of offshore wind-power farms, including the controversy-plagued Cape Wind project that Patrick strongly backs. ...One major change would be to declare cables conveying power from offshore renewable-energy projects - including wind farms and hydroelectric generating units - to be water-dependent. That designation would get those projects speedier, more favorable consideration by department regulators, who are required by Chapter 91 to apply heavier scrutiny to nonwater-dependent projects in protected waterfront and river areas.

Planning Board chairman Gary Gilbert said his board has begun that exploration, which will include hiring a consultant and visiting wind facilities. Gilbert has prepared a draft bylaw, but "the board is not ready to go through that yet because they want to learn about the general subject matter first," he said. "It's new to many people on the board." Board of Selectmen chairwoman Sue Thorne said she supports developing a comprehensive wind bylaw "as long as there are reasonable and sensible guidelines. By having a bylaw in place, it gives any applicant an opportunity to be aware of what the parameters are" for building a tower to harness wind energy.

Eight Southeastern Massachusetts lawmakers have requested a meeting with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, saying they are concerned about the way in which an amendment was slipped into an energy bill to open most state coastal waters to renewable energy development. ...The amendment to the speaker's energy bill would remove a major hurdle before a proposal by Boston developer Jay Cashman to build up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. The wind farm is currently under state review. ..." we are extremely concerned over the circumstances surrounding the amendment which dramatically altered the Ocean Sanctuaries Act," they wrote. "As legislators that represent coastal districts, we are troubled by the way the language was included in the consolidated amendment and media reports surrounding the adoption of the amendment." "The language was not part of the original amendments filed that were made available to the House members before the deadline. Transparency has been the hallmark of your speakership and this seems inconsistent with the high standards under which you operate the House of Representatives."

Our leaders on Beacon Hill, who are clearly more knowledgeable about the law than engineering, are steadily moving toward enacting legislation that would require "greenhouse gas" emissions caps that are 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. ...To put this knee-jerk legislation into perspective, if we assume (somewhat unrealistically) that we can derive 25 percent of our total energy production from wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, the proposed caps would require that we reduce our energy consumption to one-fourth of what it was in 1990 by the year 2050. Of course if the exodus of productive citizens and industry that are currently leaving the state continues, we might get there by default. But then enacting ill-conceived policies that forces production overseas where efficiencies are lower would actually increase the world's "carbon footprint."

Environmentalists and coastal lawmakers are vowing to fight a surprise provision in an energy bill that they say would open up virtually the entire Massachusetts coast to unlimited wind turbine development. The amendment was tucked into a sweeping energy bill that was approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives with little debate late Thursday. The amendment would allow renewable energy projects like wind power and hydroelectricity in the state's five ocean sanctuaries, which are now protected from development by state law. ..."It's outrageous," said Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable. — It blows up a good part of the Marine Sanctuaries Act, and it was done at the eleventh hour.

Massachusetts environmentalists expressed alarm yesterday over legislation they said could lead to construction of Cape Wind-sized wind farms up and down the state's coastline. ...Groups including the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Conservation Law Foundation said they fear that the amendment, if adopted by the Senate and signed by Governor Deval Patrick, would open the door to almost unlimited construction of wind turbines and other energy equipment in Cape Cod Bay and in waters within 3 miles of the North Shore, the South Coast, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the south side of Cape Cod. ...The Senate isn't expected to take up the DiMasi energy bill before January.