Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Honorable John Keenan, House Chair
The Honorable Benjamin Downing, Senate Chair
Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy
State House, Boston
Dear Chairman Keenan, Chairman Downing, and Members of the Committee,
On behalf of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Municipal Association appreciates the opportunity to offer written testimony on several bills heard by the Committee on March 11, including S. 177, An Act Fueling Job Creation Through Energy Efficiency; H. 3901/S. 2019, An Act Relative to Net Metering; S. 2030, An Act Reducing the Cost of Solar Power Through Increased Competition; and S. 2020, An Act Relative to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.
Please Support S. 177, An Act Fueling Job Creation Through Energy Efficiency
The MMA supports the improvements to the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program proposed in S. 177. Under current law, municipalities may, through local option, issue loans to finance the energy retrofits of commercial or residential properties. A participating property owner would repay the loan in part through the savings attained with the installed energy efficiency measures. However, no loans have been issued through this program, in large part because municipalities have not opted in to the cumbersome and fiscally risky existing program structure.
Under this legislation, however, the financing mechanism would be changed to eliminate the risk to municipalities that opt in to the program. Instead, MassDevelopment would issue bonds to finance an energy retrofit for a participating commercial building, placing a lien upon the property to ensure repayment. We believe that this proposal would be a positive change to the PACE program and would make the initiative more attractive to municipalities, allowing them to use the financing mechanism as an economic development tool for both existing and prospective businesses that might consider locating within their borders.
Please Support H. 3901/S. 2019, An Act Relative to Net Metering
The MMA supports the two major components of this legislation: lifting the net metering cap and creating a net metering study commission. Net metering is a critical part of solar development financing, but the public sector cap of 3 percent has been reached, stalling existing municipal projects currently under development and precluding new ones from beginning.
In recent years, Massachusetts has become a true leader in solar development, with over 463 MW of installed solar capacity statewide. This far exceeds the original solar goal of 250 MW by 2017, established in the 2008 Green Communities Act. Cities and towns have been the bedrock of this success, hosting solar developments on municipal property statewide. However, in order to meet the Administration’s new goal of 1,600 MW by 2020 and to continue to build upon past achievements, the net metering cap for municipal projects must be increased to allow for sustained progress.
This bill would lift the net metering cap through December 31, 2016. The MMA supports this concept, or a fixed increase of at least 1 percent to allow municipal projects to move forward in the near-term while the commission researches and reviews the long-term viability of net metering and determines the best long-term path forward. The commission would include an appointee of the MMA, reflecting the critically important role municipalities play in the success of renewable energy in Massachusetts.
Oppose S. 2030, An Act Reducing the Cost of Solar Power Through Increased Competition
The MMA has strong concerns regarding the elimination of virtual net metering under S. 2030, and we oppose the legislation because the bill would be harmful to cities and towns. Virtual net metering is a process by which municipalities may partner on solar development projects, with each involved municipality receiving significant energy cost savings through negotiated power purchase agreements. However, under this bill, virtual net metering would be eliminated. This would deprive municipalities with limited developable sites for solar installations the ability to realize energy cost savings, and we oppose this harmful measure.
Additionally, this bill would place investor-owned utilities in charge of the solar procurement process, an arrangement that would stifle solar competition and deny municipalities the ability to negotiate favorable power purchase agreements for long-term energy cost savings.
Please Support S. 2020, An Act Relative to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute
The MMA strongly supports this bill, which would promote broadband adoption in vulnerable and disadvantaged populations by providing grants to public entities and leveraging federal and private sector investment to enhance broadband infrastructure in underserved areas of the state. Such expansion of broadband access is essential for continued economic development in many regions of the Commonwealth, and must be prioritized.
We appreciate your consideration of the local impacts of these bills relative to renewable energy, economic development, and Internet access. Thank you very much for the important work you do on the important issues that impact our cities and towns. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to have your office contact Tom Philbin or Catherine Rollins of the MMA staff at (617) 426-7272 at any time.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey C. Beckwith
Executive Director, MMA