Green Corner - April 2016

The new Solar Bill just was just passed and signed by the Governor. It
lifts the "cap" by 3 percent for public, private, and utility owned
projects. The old cap had been reached months ago and many larger solar
installations had been stalled. So raising the cap, even this little
bit, is good news, but there are may other parts of the bill that are
not so good.
The bill lowers the reimbursement rate for electricity generated from
most large new projects by about 40%  - from the current retail rate of
19 cents on avg. to about 12 cents per kilowatt hour. Projects owned by
governments and municipalities, such as those at schools, public
landfills or town buildings, will still be reimbursed at the retail
rate, as would residential and small commercial projects. So homeowners
installing solar panels now would not see any change. However, larger
projects - including those that are shared by a community or built for
affordable housing complexes - would get reimbursed at the lower rate.
It is estimated that 80% of homes in this state are not well situated
for solar, so buying into a community shared project will now have a
longer payback than in the past.
Existing projects that are already connected to the grid would be
grandfathered in under the old rate for 25 years.
The bill allows the Department of Energy to charge solar generating
customers a minimum monthly bill. This is a way to ensure that customers
who do not take energy from the grid are still paying something toward
the cost of maintaining transmission lines and infrastructure. In a more
just and sane world, the proposed minimum bill should favor those who
use less electricity to begin with, otherwise it will discourage people
with smaller bills to go solar. 
The new bill also directs the Massachusetts Department of Energy
Resources to craft a new version of an incentive program referred to as
SREC in a way that provides a financial incentive for low-income solar
projects. The current SREC program is favorable to residential and small
commercial system owners and will stay in place until the beginning of
2017
Ben Hellerstein of Environment Massachusetts said that the minimum
monthly bill and the cuts to reimbursement rates will slow the growth of
solar energy.
"The conversation this year has been totally focused on how much will we
cut the program, but that's the wrong way to look at it. Solar has
brought so many benefits to Massachusetts, the environment, the economy,
we should think about how do we keep growing as quickly as possible."

The bill is not a long-term solution. 
Senator Ben Downing cautioned that even with a 3 percent cap lift, the
cap will likely be hit again around the beginning of 2017.
"We need to come up with a long term framework that allows reliance on
programs." 
He noted that lawmakers raised the cap in 2010, 2012, 2014 and now 2016.
"That stop and start doesn't lead to good planning. It doesn't lead to a
healthy market." 
Our own senator, Senate President Stan Rosenberg said "Our climate is
changing and we must work towards an energy future that reduces our
reliance on fossil fuels while promoting the use of clean energy
alternatives."