Policy Documents

• SEBANE ESMP Comments (March 12th, 2024)

• Net Metering Bill Summary (February 20th, 2024)

• SEBANE SMART Review Comments (February 9th, 2024)
  

Policy Priorities

POLICY COMMITTEE:

SEBANE’s policy committee seeks to advance regulations and legislation that supports the growth of the solar industry in Massachusetts. For information on joining SEBANE's Policy Committee, please email operations@sebane.org.

2022-2023 POLICY PRIORITIES:

SEBANE’s mission is to protect and promote the New England solar industry through informed policy intervention, coalition building and stakeholder education. Our priorities and tactical strategy for 2022-2023 are based on the following principles:

LONG-TERM SOLAR TARGETS

Massachusetts has long been a national leader on climate and carbon mitigation policy. However, in part due to SMART Program complexity and delays, actual solar installed in the Commonwealth has dropped significantly since the sunset of the SREC Program in 2017. SEBANE believes that the State must commit to significant targets for solar deployment, and must put in place the policy provisions that will bring about such deployment.

NET METERING

SEBANE believes net metering is a cornerstone of solar policy, allowing solar to deliver power to the grid at a fair value. SEBANE will continue to advocate for expansive net metering provisions, including the elimination of net metering caps, a logical revision of the single parcel rule, and robust and fair net metering rates.

INTERCONNECTION AND GRID PLANNING

SEBANE believes that the interconnection process in Massachusetts needs to be revised. First and foremost, we must move away from cost causation to cost allocation, such that interconnection costs are fairly assessed; solar projects pay a fair and predictable fee to interconnect; and a significant share of interconnection costs are rate-based—reflecting the value that distributed solar delivers to all ratepayers within the Commonwealth.

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

The SMART program has been generous in some areas of the State, much less so in others. Most disconcerting has been tremendous market uncertainty that significant implementation delays have had on the solar market overall. SEBANE believes that Massachusetts must identify a successor program that is easy to understand, consistent in its implementation, fair to all geographies, and sufficiently generous to incent the level of solar deployment required to enable the Commonwealth to reach its ambitious emissions reduction goals.

ENERGY JUSTICE

SEBANE firmly believes that solar can provide significant economic benefit to low income and underserved communities across the State. Massachusetts solar policy must include provisions that allow the cost savings and economic opportunity that solar can provide to be enjoyed by those who need it most.