New England governors, Canadian premiers meet to explore clean energy initiatives

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday announced a newly invigorated partnership between New England states and provinces in Canada to explore clean energy initiatives.During a news conference at the 45th annual New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference, Healey said the group had agreed on two new resolutions: to reconvene the Northeast International Committee on Energy and a Committee on Environment. The two committees would pursue regional collaborations and planning on energy issues and look toward further steps on "ecological connectivity, climate adaptation and food security." "We're excited to continue our work together to achieve greater energy independence and affordability, create new union jobs and build up the climate workforce, and take proactive steps to address climate change," Healey said in a statement. Healey said the two-day conference in Boston was a great opportunity to discuss and share ideas related to the "clean energy revolution." Healey said she hoped the meeting would lead to more collaborations with Canadian provinces when it comes to opportunities to invest in offshore wind. "One of our points of discussion was building an offshore wind supply chain here in New England and Canada, to achieve true energy independence and to save money for our residents and business," she said. Andrew Furey, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said the discussions at this year's conference would serve to strengthen the provinces' commitment to the clean energy transition and trade relationships."As the easternmost province in Canada, advantageously located close to the European market as well as the United States, Newfoundland and Labrador has long recognized the value of working collaboratively towards shared goals," Furey said in a statement. Gov. Ned Lamont, in a statement, said 'the northeast faces many challenges when it comes to energy affordability and reliability, and collaborating on these policies among our states and provinces is a way that we can work to diversify energy supplies, strengthen the clean energy supply chain, and grow the clean energy workforce."The conference comes on the heels of an announcement by Massachusetts and Rhode Island that the two states had agreed to buy power from three new offshore wind projects. Connecticut, which had signed on to the tri-state offshore wind procurement agreement, has yet to decide whether to buy into any of the projects. Connecticut officials said they continue to review offshore wind bids. g.smith@theday.com