Bill > S2151

This bill proposes several key provisions to ensure natural gas workforce safety: 1. It requires the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to establish performance-based rates and service quality standards for gas companies, including requirements for staffing levels, employee training, and workforce development plans to address the transition to net-zero emissions. 2. It establishes a process for gas companies to file infrastructure replacement plans to address aging or leaking natural gas pipelines, with interim targets and potential penalties for failing to meet those targets. 3. It creates new definitions and requirements related to "Dual Fuel Companies" and "Alternative Energy Companies" to facilitate the training and hiring of workers displaced by the transition to net-zero emissions. 4. It establishes a training fund administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to support the development of apprenticeship programs for the gas and alternative energy industries. 5. It provides tax credits for Dual Fuel and Alternative Energy Companies that hire workers adversely affected by the transition away from fossil fuels. 6. It requires that any construction, reconstruction, or repair of natural gas infrastructure not performed by gas company employees be subject to prevailing wage requirements. 7. It creates a "Clean Energy Just Transition Unemployment Trust Fund" to provide temporary additional unemployment benefits to workers adversely affected by the transition to net-zero emissions.

Transportation and Infrastructure

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S2151