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Gov. Charlie Baker has signed a major new green energy bill despite “agita” a section gave him.

“The Governor has just signed H5060. It’s a great day for Massachusetts,” state Rep. Jeffrey Roy tweeted.

The main part of the bill would help Massachusetts significantly boost its production of offshore wind energy and grow incentives for drivers to trade in their gas-powered cars for electric vehicles. However, it also includes a pilot program that would let 10 cities and towns ban natural gas hookups for new construction or large renovations, with the approval of state officials.

Real estate industry lobby groups have opposed the pilot program, which exempts lab and medical developments, saying it could substantially add development costs for new housing when the state is short many thousands of units to meet current needs. Baker, himself, said he shared those concerns and worried that the towns interested in applying for the pilot program – Newton, Arlington and other nearby, wealthy suburbs, as well as Cambridge – would use it to block the construction of new multifamily housing on top of the suburbs’ history of exclusionary zoning.

Proponents argued that Baker administration data shows that multifamily buildings designed from the ground up without natural gas building systems can be cheaper to build and operate, and that the state needs a pilot program to prove out fossil-free building designs. Legislators also added provisions requiring any town taking part to first meet housing production goals to the bill as it neared Baker’s desk.

In his letter to legislators announcing that he’d signed the bill, Baker said he was signing the bill to make sure offshore wind production can continue expanding rapidly despite “deep misgivings” about the gas ban pilot program.

“[M]ost of the communities seeking authority to implement a fossil fuel ban will need to produce a lot more additional housing for the Commonwealth to meet its housing goals,” he said.

Baker also called out the law’s use of housing production benchmarks derived from the state’s decades-old Chapter 40B affordable housing law that focus only on the creation of affordable housing.

“I implore the Legislature and the next Administration to take a good, hard look at what that 10-town policy concerning natural gas does to the cost and availability of housing that working people can afford before they consider offering this exclusionary zoning policy to other communities,” he said. “Restrictive legislation passed int he name of climate change that does little to advance our decarbonization goals will only delay progress that we all agree is so urgently needed.”

Commercial real estate trade group NAIOP-MA said that it was glad that Baker had shared their concerns about the gas ban’s impact on housing production, and thanked legislators for exempting life science real estate following the group’s protests.

“NAIOP is grateful to House and Senate Leadership for their recognition of the technological difficulties associated with 100% electric lab development, and their commitment to protecting this vital industry in the Commonwealth. We plan to advocate for DOER to engage in a rulemaking process so that the provisions related to restricting fossil fuel connections in ten communities can be implemented thoughtfully and consistently with DOER’s critical expertise and input,” Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs Anastasia Nicolaou told Banker & Tradesman in an email. “Implementation of this bill will be critical to ensure a practical, achievable decarbonization plan for the Commonwealth. NAIOP will be engaging throughout the relevant regulatory processes to ensure industry input is represented.”

That regulatory process will help suss out which development proposals are sufficiently advanced in their planning and permitting processes that they won’t be covered by the gas ban, state Sen. Mike Barrett, one of the bill’s primary authors said. The real estate industry, he added, will have opportunities to weigh in on regulations at the state level and at the local level when individual towns write bylaws as part of applying for the program.