Steam utilities in Boston and Cambridge would be subject to state safety regulation for the first time under a sweeping new energy bill unveiled yesterday by Governor Deval Patrick and legislative leaders.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston has been asking legislators for months to bring steam utility Trigen-Boston under the authority of state regulators, a push that intensified after two steam-line explosions in the last two months spewed asbestos-laden debris into downtown streets. Three years ago, leaks from Trigen pipes in the Back Bay and South End inflicted second-degree burns on a 2-year-old and a Jamaica Plain woman.
The new energy bill unveiled at the State House yesterday by Patrick and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi includes several measures to promote "green energy" projects like wind power, solar, and hydroelectric and energy conservation. It includes a measure giving the Department of Public Utilities oversight of steam utilities "for the sole purpose of ensuring public safety." The bill would direct department inspectors to set safety and annual-inspection regulations and impose fines on violators.
Following the most recent steam-line bursts, on Otis and New Chardon streets, Trigen crews agreed to launch a thorough study of their 22-mile system using infrared cameras to find leaks. The Trigen network serves 230 office, hospital, and hotel buildings. Trigen is a subsidiary of Thermal North America Inc.
Trigen spokeswoman Nancy J. Sterling said the company is committed to safe operations and welcomes state oversight on safety compliance. "Safety is of paramount importance to Trigen," Sterling said.
Menino's chief energy aide, James W. Hunt, said, "We applaud both Speaker DiMasi and the Legislature for making steam-utility safety and overall utility safety part of this larger clean energy bill, and we're optimistic that it will move quickly."
Announcing the overall energy bill, state Representative Brian S. Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat who is cochairman of the joint committee on energy, stressed that it won't involve new spending or taxes.
"It is a revenue-neutral bill with no new costs," Dempsey said, just new ways of spending existing energy-efficiency and renewable-energy promotion funds. It would offer some small tax breaks - including a $2,000 personal state income tax deduction for buying a hybrid car and $300 tax credit for installing a solar hot-water system - that would not have significant impact on state finances.
One provision in the bill would offer a quid pro quo of increased funding to the state's 351 cities and towns for energy-efficiency measures in municipal buildings. If they agreed to host a renewable-energy facility such as a biomass-fueled electric generator or wind farm, or committed to buy 20 percent of the municipal government's electricity from renewable sources, communities would be eligible to become "green communities" that could tap into an existing $30 million to $40 million stream of annual state funds to pay for energy-efficiency moves at city and town buildings.
