The utilities are foisting on the Baker Administration an energy policy that shortchanges the Commonwealth’s clean energy future by promoting H.3854, legislation that would gut the solar industry. They seek to perpetuate a bureaucratic, obsolete business model with short sighted economic information. H.3854 is a regressive bill that makes solar installations uneconomic, whether for residents, cities, businesses or anyone else. H.3854 slices the net metering compensation rate to the bone, seeks to require a high minimum monthly bill for net metering customers, and fails to eliminate the solar net metering cap, last set at a now obsolete level of 1600 MW.
The State of the State Address, short on details, failed to reveal the harm the obsolete utility model is doing to our clean energy future, and erroneously claimed that solar is two to three times more expensive for the ratepayer. That number comes from the utilities and ignores the actual cost and benefits of solar. The Governor’s expertise in the bureaucratic health care/insurance industries and cost cutting approach does not translate to the innovation and vision required to grow the clean and renewable energy industry. The Governor instead recently announced a $30 million low interest residential loan program – of limited scope and of benefit only to the wealthy. The $30 million program is a tactical diversion from the utilities’ real goal to remove solar as a hedge against more methane gas pipelines and as a threat to their obsolete business model. In other words, undermining the state’s distributed energy solar industry is a necessary first step for the utilities to reach the pot of gold that lies in more high pressure gas pipelines and high voltage electrical transmission lines to achieve the Administration’s goal to export our dollars to buy more Canadian hydro.
This small low-interest solar loan program can only benefit the wealthy. This solar loan program is limited to the purchase of residential solar photo voltaic (pv) systems for single family homes and residential buildings up to three units. Most of the rest of the state’s 1.2 million multi-family dwellings are rental units or low priced condominiums owned by low and middle income earners and retirees that can’t even qualify for this exclusive program. Purchase of a solar pv system does benefit from the 30% federal and smaller state tax credits. But only wealthy, high income residents can use these tax credits effectively. The low and middle income earners derive little benefit from these tax credits, even if they could qualify as borrowers. And why a low interest loan program designed to benefit the wealthy?
The program provides no measurable stimulus for the solar industry. Contrary to the Administration’s claims, the additional 10 megawatts of solar that this program could finance is not even a blip on the path to a clean energy economy. Nor is the program needed to reach a 1600 MW cap that has already been reached in most of the state. The program’s loan amounts of $3,000 to $60,000 would support only about 500 homes at the high end and 10,000 homes at the low end. That is a tiny fraction of the state’s 2.8 million dwelling units that could benefit from access to solar. And only about 15% of them are suitably located for roof top solar. Again, don’t be fooled by the loan program announcement. It’s limited size and focus make it irrelevant to a future clean energy economy.
The utilities’ position is undermining the real opportunity for thousands of solar jobs and a vibrant solar industry.The utility sponsored, Administration supported legislation, H.3854, will eclipse the sun as a source of our energy and wither our vibrant solar industry currently employing 15,000 people. The Massachusetts Senate soundly rejected H.3854. The resulting legislative stalemate means we still have a solar cap. The failure to lift the cap has already held up or canceled at least 140 MW of projects. Each MW translates to 15 to 20 local jobs and each watt represents at least $3 of business. Therefore the utilities have already deprived our state’s solar industry of at least $420,000,000 worth of solar projects and 2,100 modern technology solar jobs. You cannot rely on the utilities to act in your best interest. These are the same companies that have allowed millions of dollars of methane (a powerful green house gas which makes up 95% of natural gas) to leak into our atmosphere and are charging us for that lost and unaccounted for resource. If they cannot act in our best interests by closing those leaks on their own, how can you trust them to act in our best interest in developing a clean energy future.
The Administration’s utility-driven policy abandons the economic opportunity of providing access to clean, affordable solar energy to 2.8 million dwelling units.The 85% of homes and the low and middle income families without an available roof top have only off-site community solar available to them. The State’s 2.8 million dwelling units represent a distributed solar energy market of at least $4 billion.Here is the math. The $4 billion figure assumes that each dwelling unit can use 2,000 watts of panels at an installation cost of $3 per watt, and that 25% of those 2.8 billion dwelling units would choose community solar. This translates to 1,481 megawatts installed and at least 15 jobs per megawatt. But to be successful, community solar requires maintaining the net metering compensation rate at retail, no minimum electricity bills, lifting the net metering cap, and keeping the SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Credit) program. The utility sponsored H.3854 bill kills the opportunity for community solar.
We urge you to join the Senate and reject H.3854.
Action: Tell the Governor and your legislators to lift the net metering cap, keep net metering compensation at its current level, and forget about minimum bills for solar users. Tell him to open up solar to all of us low to middle income people who want it and can’t get it instead of offering a solar financing program useful for only the wealthy.
Your legislators and our Governor need to hear from constituents like you.
Call, write or email your local state Representative and Senator. Find your state Representative and Senator here! Contact Governor Baker here!
Here is a suggested message to send:
Dear Legislator or Governor,
Stop undercutting our solar industry and help it continue to thrive. Support full retail net metering compensation, lift the net metering cap, keep the SREC program, and PLEASE, no minimum bills. AND make solar available for me, not just the wealthy by making community solar affordable. Locally generated lean energy, not fossil fuels or importing hydro from Canada is our future. Keep our energy dollars here. The predictable cost and benefits of solar make it far less expensive for me and our economy than the volatile price of oil and gas.
[Your Name and Zip Code]