Romney outlines energy plan mixing conservation, alternate supply

During the fall, Massachusetts will request proposals for wind and biomass power-generation facilities at state buildings and on state land, convene a summit on advanced energy technologies and seek a decision on siting offshore LNG receiving terminals.

Romney opposes an onshore facility proposed for Weaver's Cove in Fall River, but he has voiced support for a plan to create an offshore terminal on Outer Brewster Island at the edge of Boston Harbor.

More broadly, through a mix of executive orders and legislation he will request from the House and Senate, the governor will seek to establish a "negawatts" program in which utility companies pay customers who reduce their energy use, support the establishment of "selective" wind power projects and work with businesses and universities to create deep water offshore wind farms.

The governor opposes the Cape Wind plant proposed for Nantucket Sound, which he says is a pristine, nationally-known tourist destination. But he supports similar projects in Princeton, Hull and other Massachusetts locations.

Romney also plans to seek market-based electricity pricing, in which consumers would pay more for running appliances and other electrical devices at peak periods, while paying less at off-peak times. Overall bills would not rise, he said, but consumers would have an incentive to consume power during lower-cost periods.

The governor said the plan is necessary to avoid rolling blackouts in the future such as those recently experienced in California and to ensure the state's electricity demand does not exceed its capacity, which is predicted to occur in 2013.

Romney said adopting the proposal could help the state avoid paying subsidies the federal government has threatened to charge to boost power company revenues and encourage them to build more plants in Massachusetts. The companies have been reluctant to build new plants because the state's relatively low electricity prices mean insufficient returns. The subsidies have been projected at $10 billion over the next 10 years, but reducing demand would eliminate the need for new plants, Romney said.

"The alternative is powerplants, with additional cost, with additional pollution, with a long permitting process and the potential of higher and higher electric rates in Massachusetts," Romney said at a Statehouse news conference.

A spokesman for MASSPIRG, a public advocacy group that focuses on state power issues, did not immediately return calls or an e-mail seeking comment on the plan.

Sue Reid, a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, called for swift implementation of Romney's proposal.

"To effectively confront the climate-change crisis and meet our energy needs, we need to do everything the governor is proposing on efficiency, conservation, clean energy and more," she said.

In rolling out such a large-scale proposal only five months before he leaves office, Romney conceded he will not be around to see all of it enacted. Indeed, in answering a question about the plan, the potential Republican presidential candidate indicated he has been thinking about energy issues elsewhere in the country.

The Romney plan does not call for the construction of any new, conventional power plants, but the governor said "the nation is going to have to explore nuclear power sources again."

The problem, he said, is disposing of the waste, an issue that has plagued President Bush after Nevadans accused him of flip-flopping on a campaign promise to bar storage of nuclear waste at the federal government's Yucca Mountain facility.

Romney said seeking a safe way to dispose nuclear waste dovetails with his plan, which calls for greater cooperation between the state, private industry and local universities to develop alternate energy supplies and clean forms of energy disposal.

"I'm hopeful that as we invest in this energy sector, that here in Massachusetts we'll find ways to dispose of or to reuse the waste that comes from nuclear power plants," the governor said.