In an emergency regulation set to go into effect immediately, Massachusetts' Department of Energy Resources doubled the size of a state solar incentive program and added an energy storage requirement for certain kilowatt thresholds, among other changes.
Despite the program capacity additions, the reaction from industry stakeholders to the April 14 regulation has been mixed.
Previously, the state initiative — known as the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, program — supported a total new solar generating capacity of 1.6 GW. The regulation doubles that to 3.2 GW.
Under the program, a tariff-based incentive is paid directly to the solar system owner by the investor-owned utility through which the system interconnects with the grid. In addition to ramping up the amount of solar capacity that is eligible for the program, the changes also specify that any solar generating units with over 500 kW of capacity must be attached to an energy storage system that meets certain guidelines.
Low-income household carve-outs have been added to the program; a minimum of 5% of a capacity block now must be "reserved for low-income community-shared and low-income property solar tariff generation units," according to the regulation.
Although the emergency regulation already is in place, the filing the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, or DOER, submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth noted that program revisions that require related tariff amendments still need the approval of the state Department of Public Utilities. On its website, the DOER said it will hold a virtual public hearing May 13 on the regulation and guidelines. While the SMART application portal is closed for new applications, the state said it expects the site to reopen for new applications May 18.
The solar industry in Massachusetts already outshines many of its peers in the region.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, or SEIA, the Bay State's solar sector ranked eighth nationwide with respect to solar installations as of the fourth quarter of 2019. That equates to roughly 14% of the state's power deriving from solar, the trade group noted.
Across all of New England, the only state that comes close is Connecticut, which only notched 20th in SEIA's national ranking. New Jersey ranks seventh, with nearby New York coming in at 10th.
Some industry groups are applauding the emergency regulation, including SEIA, which said the move "will help stabilize the solar industry ... and keep people working." But enthusiasm from other organizations has been tempered with criticism.
For instance, Vote Solar said in a news release that "this update represents an important step in the right direction, especially in how the program will bring benefits to low-income neighborhoods," and increasing the capacity of the SMART program would "get shovel-ready solar projects that have been stalled ... back on track."
But merely doubling the program "fell short" of what the state needs, Vote Solar said.
"In the wake of a pandemic that has hit environmental justice communities hardest, a stronger solar program of at least another 1,600 MW for low-income families would deliver much-needed benefits including new jobs, local economic growth, community resilience and affordable energy," according to the self-described nonpartisan solar energy advocacy group with 3,000 members in Massachusetts.
Instead of an additional 1.6 GW of solar power, Vote Solar said the state should have ratcheted the program up by 3.2 GW, an amount the group previously proposed to have added.
An expansion of that size "could have created 8,000 to 9,000 new jobs including opportunities in sales, retail and construction — sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic — while driving more than $5 billion in solar project investment into the state's economy and keeping the state on track to meet its renewable portfolio standard," the group said.
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- Bridget Reed Morawski
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- Energy