What States are Doing on Energy

In the next few months, policymakers across New England may commit tens of billions of ratepayers’ dollars to gas pipelines and electric transmission that will shape the region’s energy future for decades to come.  Some of the projects probably make sense, and could help to replace the region’s outdated power plants with cleaner resources, stabilize costs, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  However, as Part I of this analysis series described, bigger is not necessarily better – particularly when it comes to pipelines – since the region is already struggling with over-reliance on natural gas.

Rallying Support to Lift Caps on Net Metering in Massachusetts

The Challenge

A previous post, Massachusetts Net Metering and Solar Policy Status and Next Steps , addressed the Net Metering and Solar Task Force report and outlined some considerations for reforms going forward. Front and center right now is the issue of statutory net metering caps,* which limit the amount of solar that can be credited for generating electricity.

These caps have been reached in National Grid’s service territory, which is preventing municipal, community-shared, and low-income solar projects from moving forward in 171 cities and towns across the Commonwealth. Policymakers in the Baker Administration and Legislature have made it clear that the caps, although arbitrary, cannot be lifted until there is a long-term framework in place that resolves any problems with the current system. At a hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on June 2, Acadia Center and many other stakeholders encouraged legislators to move forward on this issue.

The Proposal

The majority position represented in the Net Metering and Solar Task Force report outlined a sensible, high-level approach but many more details are necessary for concrete implementation. Since the release of the Task Force report on April 30th, Acadia Center has engaged extensively with a range of colleagues to determine the best way to move forward. Prior to the June 2nd hearing, the product of those discussions was released —the “Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts .”

This framework, now endorsed by 52 organizations–spanning sustainable energy and environmental advocates, labor, solar developers, business groups and community groups–presents a detailed and sensible approach for reforms to the current system that will allow MA to lift the caps soon and eventually eliminate them. The key aspects of the proposal are:

  •  Lift caps on solar development;
  • Preserve key aspects of Massachusetts’ net metering and virtual net metering programs;
  • Phase in a new system of distribution credits and a new “energy system benefit credit” for solar generators based on analysis of the long-run net costs and benefits of solar generation to the electric grid. These changes should be phased in based on availability of appropriate and cost-effective metering and billing mechanisms, and the right of individuals to produce clean electricity for their own consumption must be respected. The credits for generation and transmission would remain the same as current policy.
  • Establish a new “adjustable block” compensation mechanism that promotes more cost-effective solar development, provides more certainty for developers, and allows Massachusetts to pursue ambitious clean energy goals;
  • Avoid increased fixed charges and minimum bills, which penalize low-income customers and undermine efficiency incentives; and,
  • Appropriately grandfather existing projects under the policies under which they were built.

 

What are the Next Steps?

At the June 2nd hearing, there was a widespread show of support among stakeholders and legislators testifying for lifting the net metering caps. Many of the bills currently up for discussion would lift the net metering caps and promote solar, but do not contain many of the essential elements necessary for long-term reforms. Acadia Center and our allies are working to build support so that the Committee will soon take up and pass a comprehensive bill that encompasses the ideas presented in the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts. Moving these measures forward is an important piece of the effort to advance a low-carbon, consumer-friendly energy future.

The framework is available here and those interested in more information or signing on can contact mlebel@acadiacenter.org.

 

* Net metering allows customers to generate their own electricity (through, for example, a rooftop solar PV system) in order to offset their electricity usage. Net metering can lower a customer’s electricity bill by reducing the amount of electricity that the customer buys from the distribution company (the utility). Net metering allows customers to receive credits for any electricity that they generate but do not use. Each distribution company in MA has a cap, and after it is hit, no more customers can use net metering. Small systems, primarily those under 10 kW of capacity, are exempt from the caps. For more info see: http://www.mass.gov/eea/grants-and-tech-assistance/guidance-technical-assistance/agencies-and-divisions/dpu/net-metering-faqs.html#6 

Session tally: Energy and Environment Hits, Misses and Almosts

…“The big energy winners this session were rooftop solar and natural gas,” said a statement from Bill Dornbos, Connecticut director and senior attorney for the regional advocacy group Acadia Center.  “We’re committed to making potentially massive new investments in both the clean fuel of the future and the best of the old-school fossil fuels. I’m not sure both can be right, but we’re placing the bets, and they’re in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”…

Legislature Maroons Major Energy Bill; Other Measures Push Solar, Natural Gas

…”The end of the day, the really cutting-edge energy legislation didn’t make its way through,” said William Dornbos, the state director of the Acadia Center, an energy and environment advocate. The highest-profile part of the bill had initially been a $10 cap on the fixed monthly fee on residential electricity bills; the cap was later reduced to a list of definitions for costs that utilities could allocate to the fixed fee…

Massachusetts Fights for a Next-Generation Solar Policy

A group of 44 organizations, including sustainable energy and environmental advocates, solar developers, public health organizations, and community groups, have proposed the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts, which they say would put the state on a path to a self-sustaining solar industry that can help the state meet its energy and environmental goals… “It is indisputable that solar power is now part of the Commonwealth’s economic and energy future,” said Daniel L. Sosland, Acadia Center President.

Power Markets: Clean Energy Group Says New England Energy ‘Crisis’ Talk is Inflated

New England’s energy system is not mired in the crisis that many people assume it is, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Acadia Center argues in a policy paper published this week by Commonwealth Magazine. The article — to be followed by two more parts over the next few weeks — argues that New England energy markets performed well during record cold in 2015, undercutting the widespread belief that the six states in the region need aggressive action to head off looming shortages.

(This article is available only with a subscription to EnergyWire or E&E Publishing)

Forty-Four Organizations Propose Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts and Call for Lifting of Net Metering Caps

Boston, MA – In advance of a hearing today on solar policy at the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee at the Massachusetts legislature, forty-four organizations, including sustainable energy and environmental advocates, solar developers, public health organizations, and community groups, are proposing the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts. This framework would put us on a pathway to a self-sustaining solar industry that can help our state continue a record of success on jobs inside and outside the solar industry, meet its energy and environmental goals, and ensure all citizens and communities have access to solar resources. As a part of this framework, these organizations are also calling on the General Court and Governor Baker’s Administration to raise the net metering caps that are currently stopping community shared, low-income, municipal and other solar projects in 171 cities and towns across Massachusetts.

Today, the Massachusetts solar industry supports more than 12,000 jobs, according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. Many businesses and jobs are at risk due to net metering caps that have stalled many solar projects in National Grid’s service territory, and layoffs are already starting to take place. Legislative action is needed to lift these caps. But political leaders have made it clear that some changes to existing solar programs will need to be made at the same time.

“It is indisputable that solar power is now part of the Commonwealth’s economic and energy future.” said Daniel L. Sosland, Acadia Center President. “This Framework will move us forward by providing for full and fair compensation for all parties, pivot towards a more modern and efficient rate structure, and allow continued expansion of solar as a resource for meeting local and regional energy needs.”

Key policy reforms described in the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts:

  • Lift caps on solar development;
  • Preserve key aspects of Massachusetts’ net metering and virtual net metering programs;
  • Phase in new credits and charges for solar generators based on analysis of the long-run net costs and benefits of solar generation to the electric grid;
  • Establish a new “adjustable block” compensation mechanism that promotes more cost-effective solar development, provides more certainty for developers, and allows Massachusetts to pursue ambitious clean energy goals;
  • Avoid increased fixed charges and minimum bills, which penalize low-income customers and undermine efficiency incentives; and,
  • Appropriately grandfather existing projects under the policies under which they were built.

 

A range of solar organizations have united behind a set of broad principles for future solar policy in Massachusetts. The coalition behind the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework for Massachusetts builds on those shared principles by adding important details on how compensation mechanisms should be designed. The new framework preserves the best elements of the Commonwealth’s existing solar energy programs, while modifying the way that solar energy producers are compensated to more fully and fairly account for the benefits and costs that local solar resources offer to our energy grid. The framework includes a sustainable rate model for maintenance and modernization of the distribution grid.

“Critically, the Next Generation Solar Policy Framework preserves the existing virtual net metering mechanism, which gives everyone access to solar, including the 80% of households and businesses that don’t have their own sunny rooftop,” stated Emily Rochon, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy for Boston Community Capital. “Equal access to solar maximizes the potential to use solar to build healthier and more resilient communities and address the energy affordability challenges created by rising and volatile energy prices.”

Steven Strong, President of Solar Design Associates, argues: “With the International Monetary Fund recently publishing their findings that the fossil fuel industry is subsidized by over five trillion dollars a year, suggestions that solar is being unfairly subsidized are frankly absurd. We need a long-term solar policy framework that compensates the people who invest in solar fairly and fully for the value that their systems provide for all citizens of the Commonwealth and, with climate change accelerating faster than anyone thought possible, this is no time to slow down renewable energy development. While general policy goals that everyone agrees to are important, it’s also important for the legislature to get the details right in order to make sure that policy will be successful.”

“Distributed clean energy like solar is a critical component of Massachusetts’ commitment to fight climate change and reduce energy costs,” said Joel Wool, Energy Advocate with Clean Water Action. “By decentralizing power and capitalizing on free and abundant sunlight, we keep energy dollars local, stabilize prices, reduce health-threatening air pollution and distribute the economic benefits of renewable energy to communities from rural Berkshire towns to port cities on the South Coast.”

Mark LeBel, Staff Attorney at Acadia Center, who took the lead in drafting the framework said: “This proposal draws on a number of concepts shared between key stakeholders, but contributes important detail to achieve a balanced and equitable outcome, and avoids negative side effects on energy efficiency incentives and low-income customers. We look forward to continuing the discussion with all the other stakeholders. We hope the Legislature will act quickly to enact policies that will get the solar industry back to full capacity in Massachusetts and propel us into our clean energy future.”

For more information see: http://acadiacenter.org/document/next-generation-solar-policy-framework-for-ma/ 

Contact:

Mark LeBel, Staff Attorney, 617-742-0054 x104, mlebel@acadiacenter.org

Emily Avery-Miller, Director, External Relations, 617-742-0054 x100, eavery-miller@acadiacenter.org

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Acadia Center is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization committed to advancing the clean energy future. Acadia Center is at the forefront of efforts to build clean, low-carbon and consumer-friendly economies. Acadia Center provides accurate and reliable information, and offers a real-world and comprehensive approach to problem solving through innovation and collaboration.

We’re Not Facing an Energy Crisis in New England

New England’s energy system is at an important juncture, but we are not facing a crisis.  After last year’s winter, many argued for radical action to head off looming shortages and increasing prices.  However, when we look at how well the energy system weathered the record-cold of 2015, the crisis narrative breaks down.  Furthermore, when considering the potential financial motivations behind some of the proposed “solutions,” a more complicated picture emerges.  This three-part analysis series endeavors to clarify this picture by describing the problem and risks that New England faces, the steps that states are taking to address the problem, and the path to a balanced solution that benefits consumers, the climate, and New England as a whole.

Text also available here