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What Long-Term Contracts With Canadian Hydropower Would Mean For Mass.

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Brad and Sue Wyman paddle their 1930's Old Town Guide canoe along the Androscoggin River in Dummer, N.H. Critics of proposals to import relatively clean hydropower from Quebec into the Northeastern United States worry that transmission lines will spoil New Hampshire's natural beauty with power lines. (Jim Cole/AP)
Brad and Sue Wyman paddle their 1930's Old Town Guide canoe along the Androscoggin River in Dummer, N.H. Critics of proposals to import relatively clean hydropower from Quebec into the Northeastern United States worry that transmission lines will spoil New Hampshire's natural beauty with power lines. (Jim Cole/AP)

A long-awaited bill was unveiled Monday by House lawmakers. It requires long-term contracts with hydropower and offshore wind projects.

"I would describe it, at this point, as a very strong bill that's built around the idea of expanding our portfolio, diversifying our energy sources and incorporating big slugs of hydro and wind into our portfolio here in Massachusetts and across New England, and I think that's a good thing," said Gov. Baker Monday.

But, environmentalists say the bill doesn't go far enough.

"We do need to increase and diversify our energy portfolio and that means more offshore wind and more hydro and more solar, and the House bill simply has put its big toe in the water, they need to go further," George Bachrach told WBUR Tuesday. He's president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

So, what would it mean for Massachusetts to get much more of its energy from Canadian hydropower?

Guest

Shawn McCarthy, Ottawa-based, national business correspondent for The Globe and Mail, covering a global energy beat.

More

Associated Press: Bill Would Encourage Hydropower, Offshore Wind

  • "Canadian hydropower and offshore wind projects would become more prominent pieces of the state’s overall energy landscape under a long-awaited bill House lawmakers unveiled Monday."

The Boston Globe: Power Grid Of The Future Needs Hydro And Wind

  • "The future of offshore wind power in Massachusetts is bright. If that mantra sounds familiar, it’s because advocates have said so for years, successfully blocking efforts to import Canadian hydropower so that the long-expected deluge of cheap, locally produced wind energy could meet the state’s clean-energy needs instead."

The Boston Globe: State And Towns Looking At Tapping Into Hydropower

  • "As the turbid currents of the Hoosic River tumble over his backyard dam, a century-old barrier of concrete and limestone, Ken Egnaczak sees a cascade of lost opportunity."

This segment aired on May 24, 2016.

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