To increase renewable energy and reduce high-cost peak hours

What it means

This bill raises the yearly increase in the share of sales that retail electricity suppliers must meet under the state's renewable energy standard (section 11F of chapter 25A), from an added 1 per cent of sales each year to an added 2 per cent each year from 2021 through December 31, 2030, then back to 1 per cent a year. It also creates a "clean peak standard": starting January 1, 2019, suppliers must meet a set share of sales during the highest-demand hours of each season with clean peak certificates from renewables, energy storage or demand response, with that share going up at least 0.25 per cent a year. The state energy department must set the baseline by December 31, 2018 and write the rules. The clean peak section would be repealed on January 1, 2051.

Source: official text and history of H.4738 on malegislature.gov. This describes the bill text posted there; amendments may have changed the version that was voted on.