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The state of Massachusetts expands access to net metering, showing its commitment to distributed energy. The Department of Public Utilities expects to save taxpayers $10 million with this regulatory change.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued an order revising the states Net Metering Program regulations, expanding access to a broader solar customer base.
Net metering is a process by which solar customers export their excess electricity production to the grid in exchange for a credit on their utility bills. The rate structure has been one of the main drivers of distributed solar energy on rooftops across the country.
The DPU order now allows owners of municipal and state solar assets to benefit from net metering. It also allows the transfer of net metering credits between utilities. And large commercial solar installations are exempt from net metering limits. These measures, along with a restructured cost recovery plan, are estimated to save taxpayers $10 million.
Massachusetts has tapped 10.8% of its rooftop solar generation potential, one of the highest adoption rates in the country, according to Environment America. The new regulations are expected to help boost the deployment of solar installations across the state, support Massachusetts move toward electrification, and reduce costs for residents and businesses.
This regulatory change bucks the national trend set by California, a state that has shaken the rooftop solar industry with its transition to Net Energy Metering 3.0. After cutting net metering credit rates by 75%, among other measures, the state has suffered the loss of more than 17,000 jobs, major bankruptcies and a sharp decline in rooftop solar installations. Analysts say California is far from meeting its climate goals. Other major rooftop solar markets, such as North Carolina, Arizona and others, have followed California in reducing net metering rates, despite the sectors plummet.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts has doubled down on net metering, recognizing the system-wide cost and resilience benefits of rooftop solar.
“Net metering allows customers to reduce their energy costs,” said DPU Chairman James Van Nostrand. “This is another example of the important nexus between the clean energy transition and maintaining affordability for Massachusetts residents.”
Massachusetts places limits on the capacity of rooftop solar that is eligible for net metering. There used to be an exemption for small systems of 10 kW or less. Now, the exemption threshold is expanded to 60 kW, meaning almost all residential accounts and many small commercial accounts are now eligible for net metering.
Program changes include:
Municipal or state facilities generating 60 kW or less can now qualify for the public limit of the Net Metering Program;
New ability to transfer net metering credits from certain net metering facilities served by one utility to customers of another Massachusetts electric distribution company (EDC);
Exempts from net metering limits facilities that serve on-site load and are greater than 60 kW and less than or equal to 2,000 kW (if private) or 10,000 kW (if public) (e.g., commercial rooftop or adjacent parking canopy); and
Changes to the treatment of the Net Metering Recovery Surcharge (NMRS) to reduce program costs for taxpayers.
DPU said the moves were made to help the state adhere to its 2021 climate action plan. The full summary of the net metering revisions can be found here.
Why on roofs?
According to recent modeling from Environment America, rooftop solar has the technical potential to meet 45% of U.S. electricity demand. Currently, it only represents 1.5% of the electricity consumed.
“Today, in Massachusetts, you can get power right from your roof,” Neumann told lawmakers. “It makes less and less sense to pay for energy from a distant plant that emits pollution when we can sunbathe on our roofs.”
Rooftop solar “has countless benefits for the environment and consumers,” according to the report. Among other things, it reduces the need for dirty power plants and expensive transmission lines, lowers costs, and can help increase the grids resilience to extreme weather and other disturbances.
Distributed solar energy helps eliminate other emission sources from the grid. For example, the 1.4 GW Mystic plant, which serves the New England region of grid operator ISO. The natural gas plant used to turn on in the winter to avoid blackouts, but the grid operator says increased solar capacity has made the grid reliable enough to shut down Mystic. More than 5.4 GW of solar energy, most of it on rooftops, has contributed to the transition from fossil fuels, even in the harsh New England winter.
Another environmental benefit of rooftop solar is the reduction of land use for energy development, sometimes called “energy sprawl.” For every gigawatt of rooftop solar installed in lieu of large-scale projects, more than 2,100 hectares of land are saved.
Additionally, rooftop solar can save the country from increased transmission needs and costs.
“Because rooftop solar generates energy that can be used on-site, it reduces the need for transmission from generating plants, potentially saving states and municipalities time and money in their energy transitions,” the report states. “To achieve renewable energy goals, some expansion of transmission infrastructure will be necessary, but maximizing the potential of rooftop solar can help minimize the amount we need to build.”
Solar is also now the most cost-effective source of new generation in most markets and under most conditions in the United States. On average, new construction solar costs 29% less than the next cheapest fossil fuel alternative, according to Ernst and Young. |
