Bill urges spending $100m on clean energy

At a clean energy press conference yesterday were Jack M. Wilson (left), UMass president; Speaker Salvatore F. DiMase; Senate President Therese Murray; and Governor Deval Patrick. (Michele McDonald/Globe Staff)

The state would spend more than $100 million over five years on clean-energy research and business development, an expensive wager on the future of companies that produce and institutions that research solar panels and biofuels, under a bill House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi filed yesterday.

DiMasi, along with Governor Deval Patrick and Senate president, Therese Murray, outlined the plans yesterday, saying the investment is necessary to ensure that the state remains committed to renewable energy and provides the workforce to support what they say is a burgeoning "green-collar jobs" economy.

"This bill supports the efforts of the Legislature and the administration to promote clean energy and combines our commitment to jobs creation and economic development with our duty to protect the environment and increase energy efficiency," DiMasi said.

The investment reflects the need to spur companies and communities to invest in renewable energy and develop a trained workforce in cities like Boston and Cambridge and to insist on environmentally friendly construction and energy use, said Xavier de Souza Briggs, an MIT researcher who focuses on urban planning and economic development.

He said the state's investment in clean energy is sound.

"We're being driven by an imperative, which is not having the planet turn into toast," Briggs said. "It's an investment somewhere you know you need to go as a state."

Specifically the bill creates a Clean Energy Technology Center with $65 million over five years to fund clean-energy instruction and research at the center and in the state's academic institutions. The state also will provide $5 million a year in grants to researchers and clean-energy companies, $500,000 annually to entrepreneurs for clean-energy training, and $2.5 million a year for workforce development in the clean-energy sector.

"The result will be new technologies, new companies, and a workforce ready to make our clean energy future a reality," Patrick said.

The bill was filed as Boston prepares to spend $250,000 on local workforce training focused on green-collar jobs such as installing solar panels and retrofitting homes and businesses with energy efficient materials and appliances. The City Council is planning a hearing to look into additional ways the city can expand workforce training.

Cambridge has established the public-private Cambridge Energy Alliance with a goal of getting 50 percent of residents and businesses to dramatically reduce energy use and make changes such as installing solar panels to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent.

An effort like the one in Cambridge will create a demand for a trained workforce to create the technology and do the labor, Briggs said.

Other states, including Connecticut and California, have already invested millions in clean-energy research and jobs creation. Officials said that the state's base of colleges and universities already developing renewable energy technology, along with the new state funding, should position Massachusetts to compete well for new clean-energy companies and top researchers.

DiMasi said the clean-energy sector employs 14,000 people in the state, a number expected to grow by 3,000 next year. He said the legislation would help establish an infrastructure to accelerate that job growth.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.