Massachusetts hearing opens on expanding offshore wind while Cape Cod lawmakers press for local safety study

State lawmakers, environmental groups and labor union representatives urged the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on July 15 to advance bills aimed at expanding Massachusetts’ offshore wind capacity while giving host communities new protections and economic benefits.

Supporters told the committee that legislation including H.3501 and S.2279 — described by witnesses as bills to “support climate progress through sustainably developed offshore wind” — would help the commonwealth reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, stabilize electricity prices and create local jobs. They also asked that the state require developers to share workforce and wildlife protection plans and to fund host-community programs.

The bills “would expand funding and support for communities that host clean energy infrastructure, like offshore wind interconnection points,” Casey Bowers, vice president of government relations at the Environmental League of Massachusetts, told the…