Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
On April 30, the Massachusetts Net Metering and Solar Task Force, created by the Legislature last year to work out a compromise on raising the net-metering cap, released a report with a list of recommendations, but did not offer a compromise solution for lifting the cap.
Pending a solution, many communities in the state are forced to halt solar projects because National Grid, the state’s largest electrical provider, has already reached its net-metering cap and is no longer accepting interconnection applications.
The net-metering provision in the Green Communities Act allows local governments to obtain credits, at a fair market price, from utilities for a portion of the electricity they generate from solar panels and other small renewable energy sources. Utility companies have expressed concerns about the costs associated with the removal of a cap on power purchased from renewable projects.
The net-metering cap was set at 2 percent when the Green Communities Act became law six years ago, meaning that renewable sources would account for no more than 2 percent of a utility’s total capacity. The cap was increased to 3 percent last year, but some municipalities were still finding that the cap was keeping them from being able to move forward on otherwise financially viable projects.
A new solar law enacted last year raised the cap on public projects from 3 percent to 5 percent of a utility’s total power generation. For private projects, the cap was raised to 4 percent. The Legislature did not take action, however, on a proposed comprehensive overhaul of the state’s net metering allocation system for renewable energy projects. Instead, the Legislature created the task force to study the long-term feasibility of net metering in Massachusetts.
The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy has scheduled a hearing on solar energy in Massachusetts on June 2. The MMA will have a panel of local officials testifying about the status of solar projects in their communities.