Roy Joins Tour of Canadian Hydro

Annual state budget hearings got off to a late start this year, but lawmakers packed two hearings into three business days before pausing for an unusual two-week break that is coinciding with a general lack of activity among all legislative committees 10 weeks into the new session.

While it doesn't explain the full length of the pause, nearly a dozen lawmakers, including the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, and State Rep. Jeff Roy, were out of the country recently for three days.

In response to a News Service inquiry about the longer-than-usual break in budget hearings and possible out-of-state travel, aides to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate Way and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said 11 legislators, all Democrats, left for Canada on Thursday with plans to return Saturday.

Rodrigues spokesman Sean Fitzgerald called it an "alternative energy fact finding trip."

In an email late Friday, Fitzgerald called the visit "part of a broader strategy to explore affordable, sustainable, and renewable forms of carbon-free energy" and said the legislators planned to tour the HQ James Bay Generating Facility, which is part of Hydro-Québec's operations.

"The facility is a two-hour propeller plane flight out of Montreal and is one of several options to ensure the availability and viability of New England's energy future," Fitzgerald said. "With uncertainty at the federal government occurring in all sectors of the American economy, it is especially important to maintain the partnership with Hydro Quebec as one avenue to help meet the Commonwealth's renewable energy goals and future grid demand."

“With residents facing higher energy costs, it is important that we explore every opportunity to reduce and stabilize rates,” said Representative Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin). “In this time of transition, the search for a reliable, competitively priced supply of electricity is paramount. The visit strengthened my understanding of the opportunities available with hydroelectric facilities, particularly reliability and cost, that have a direct impact on my constituents and our state.”

The visit included the Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric facilities (dikes, dam, spillway) and an underground generating station, which is the largest hydroelectric facility in North America. Hydro-Québec has been selling electricity into New England since the 1980s and will be expanding its service here when the construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) is completed in January 2026, Roy explained. The facility currently provides a dedicated DC transmission line to Ayer, Massachusetts, a very important interconnection for New England, with regular power flows of 1,200–1,400 MW and higher.

Above, the delegation in the underground Le Grand generating station at James Bay. (image courtesy of Rep. Roy)

The trip comes as state energy policies shaped through a series of clean energy laws are suddenly at odds with the new direction of federal energy policy under President Donald Trump.

State policies are geared toward compliance with strict carbon emission reduction mandates, while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week emphasized "the critical role of fossil fuels in meeting global energy demands," according to the energy department, and hyped the the need to "end the Biden administration's irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens."

In the last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved a plan to extend the operational life of Montana’s Spring Creek Mine by 16 years, enabling the production of nearly 40 million tons of coal. The U.S. Department of Energy signed a major liquefied natural gas export permit approval, the White House said, and the Environmental Protection Agency launched the "biggest day of deregulation in American history."

State officials in Massachusetts also face new and serious questions about federal support for ongoing and future clean energy efforts. As Trump looks to build jobs in fossil fuel-based energy, plans in Massachusetts to grow jobs and produce a major new supply of clean power through offshore wind projects are in doubt.

Sen. Ed Markey and eight other U.S. senators released a letter Friday demanding that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin "cease his illegal witch hunt to claw back nearly $20 billion in congressionally appropriated and legally obligated funds that underpin the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund." The fund is designed to "spur economic development, lower energy costs, and reduce pollution," Markey said.

Ana Vivas, a spokeswoman for Mariano, said in an email Thursday night that legislators planned to visit the Hydro-Québec Research Institute, the dikes, dam and spillway that are part of the Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric facilities, and an underground generating station that she said are part of "the largest hydroelectric facility in North America" and include a dedicated transmission line to Ayer, Massachusetts.

Budget hearings paused after a March 10 hearing in Gloucester and will resume March 24 in Amherst, starting a string of four budget hearings in six business days. After two final budget hearings in April, the House Ways and Means Committee plans to release its redraft of Gov. Maura Healey's $62 billion budget during the week of April 14, with floor debate scheduled for the week of April 28. Healey filed her budget Jan. 22. The Legislature has made a habit of not completing annual budget by the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

Rodrigues, Sens. John Cronin and Jacob Oliveira were on the trip, according to Fitzgerald. Cronin is a member of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

House members who went on the Canada trip included Rep. Mark Cusack, the new House chair of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and vice chair Rep. Michael Kushmerek. Senate co-chair Sen. Michael Barrett and vice chair Michael Brady were not listed as trip participants. 

The other House members who went to Canada, according to Vivas, are Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz, Rep. Danielle Gregoire, Rep. Kathy LaNatra, Rep. Meghan Kilcoyne and Rep. Michael Finn. None of those representatives are among the House members of the Energy Committee.

Fitzgerald said senators on the trip were responsible for paying for transportation, lodging and expenses.