A bill passed in the final hours of the state legislative session requires utility companies to purchase 1,600 MWH of offshore wind energy.

This legislation has seen a great deal of support State Rep. Antonio Cabral who tells WBSM's Brian Thomas that, with its close proximity to Buzzards Bay, this bill will enable New Bedford to once again become a major energy producer.

"New Bedford and Massachusetts used to be the beginning of the pipeline when whale oil was really the only oil that was used for lighting and that changed after the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania," said Cabral "and now we are back at that point again and I think this is a tremendous opportunity for us."

In addition to its natural resources Cabral also said New Bedford has the infrastructure in place to seize this opportunity.

"The Commerce Terminal, down in the South End, was specifically built to provide services to this kind of industry, so I think we are ahead of everyone else in Massachusetts when it comes to that to be really the stage for offshore wind," said Cabral.

Cabral also says the bill will help Massachusetts reach its goals of a reduced carbon footprint.

"The goals that we have set ourselves for, in terms of setting goals around carbon emissions, it is important for us to have goals around renewable energy and clean energy and that's part of meeting those goals," said Cabral.

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