BOSTON (WWLP) – Power companies will have to meet new clean energy standards and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, following updated regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Utilities and competitive suppliers of electricity will now have to get more of their electricity from clean energy sources.
This is one of several regulations from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and MassDEP to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of climate change.
The regulation requires companies to get 16 percent of electricity sales from clean energy sources in 2018. The minimum percentage will increase 2 percent annually.
22News asked MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg whether this will increase your utility bills.
“The impacts are expected to be very low from these regulations, because we are working with existing policies, so we wouldn’t expect to see big impacts on people’s bills,” Suuberg said.
Under the regulation, utility companies will be required to get at least 80 percent of electricity sales from clean energy sources by 2050.