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River groups and scientists urge excluding pumped storage from statutory "clean energy" definition
Summary
Witnesses supporting S2237 told the committee that existing pumped hydro facilities should not qualify for new state subsidies or streamlined treatment labeled as "clean energy," citing riverine ecological damage and potential ratepayer costs.
BOSTON — Scientists, river‑conservancy staff and western Massachusetts residents urged the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy on July 9 to exclude existing pumped hydropower facilities from the state’s statutory definition of “clean energy.” They said inclusion would risk subsidizing projects that cause environmental harm and impose costs on ratepayers.
Eve Vogel, scholar of river and electric power system management at UMass Amherst, said the Commonwealth risks spending hundreds of millions of dollars to procure existing pumped‑storage…
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