DOER conducting review of SMART solar program in July

During July, the Department of Energy Resources will be hosting several opportunities for feedback on the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target program, which supports the development of solar energy in Massachusetts.

Two main areas of focus for this round of SMART program review include current solar costs and revenue requirements across different program elements and added features, as well as potential changes to the program. A straw proposal outlining possible changes will be released later this month to help guide feedback.

The Department of Energy Resources undertook a stakeholder feedback process this past winter and has received responses to a series of questions on the program, all of which is available on the SMART Programmatic Review website.

The department will host a two-hour informational webinar on July 10 at 1 p.m. to provide background information and a review of proposed policy changes. Zoom registration is available online.

The straw proposal will be made available after July 10, in addition to a recording of the webinar.

The department will also be holding in-person technical sessions at the Connolly Center in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to gather more feedback on the program. The sessions will be separated into different topic areas to focus feedback on specific elements of the program.

The schedule is:
• July 22, 9:30 a.m.-noon: Program structure and process
• July 22, 1-4 p.m.: Equity, consumer protection and compliance
• July 23, 9:30 a.m.-noon: Compensation rate adders, eligibility
• July 23, 1-4 p.m.: Environmental protection and agrivoltaics

Attendees may register online for individual sessions through July 17.

For those unable to attend an in-person session, a virtual technical session will be offered on July 29. Register online by July 24.

Visit the SMART program website for more information, or direct questions to doer.smart@mass.gov.