RTO Insider

By Jon Lamson

At a pair of recent events, clean energy advocates and a range of stakeholder groups expressed support for a sweeping energy bill introduced by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey while offering suggestions for avoiding “unintended consequences.”

The legislation is intended to provide immediate and long-term rate relief in the wake of high winter energy prices and amid concerns about high costs associated with the clean energy transition.

“Energy advocates have embraced many of the proposals in this bill, but as with any major piece of legislation, concerns have also surfaced about some of the particular provisions,” Tim Snyder of the Alliance for Climate Transition, a clean energy trade group, said during a webinar held by Advanced Energy United on July 8.

Snyder praised the Healey administration for taking a comprehensive and collaborative approach to addressing energy affordability in the bill and for being receptive to input and concerns.

“As the federal government guts financial support for renewable energy, it is essential that places like Massachusetts continue to set policy in a way that ensures the continued viability of the energy transition,” Snyder added.

Michael Judge, undersecretary of energy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), said the administration has “generally received a pretty positive reaction to the overall thrust and direction of the bill.” He said the bill is a “starting point” for discussions, noting it has a long way to go in the legislative process.

“We want to engage with people and get this right, and so, where there are opportunities to make some adjustments, let’s talk through that,” Judge said.

The bill includes multiple policy changes, including an overhaul of clean energy procurements, authorization of new financing mechanisms for infrastructure investments and electrification upgrades, a reduction in net metering credits for public net metering facilities and the phaseout of the state’s Alternative Portfolio Standard (APS). The administration has estimated the legislation will save ratepayers in the state more than $10 billion over the next decade. (See Mass. Gov. Healey Introduces Energy Affordability Bill.)

Some of the most vocal concerns about the bill have come from the solar industry, which has opposed reducing net metering credits for projects that are already in development, along with a proposal to require all net metering projects to qualify for the state’s Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program.

During the webinar, Judge said the net metering changes are focused on reining in rates for public net metering facilities, which must be owned, operated or procured by a municipality or government entity. He said the changes would not affect residential, rooftop or community solar projects, which “would still receive roughly the same compensation that they receive today.”

At a lengthy legislative hearing on June 25, Valessa Souter-Kline of the Solar Energy Industries Association stressed that “all changes should be prospective to ensure that businesses and consumers who have made decisions based on what’s in place … don’t have retroactive changes.”

Jessica Robertson of New Leaf Energy said the proposed changes to net metering compensation and eligibility criteria, which would apply to projects that have not interconnected by Jan. 1, 2026, would affect those that have been stuck in the interconnection process for years.

Robertson said the company is developing two public net metering projects that submitted interconnection applications in 2018 and 2019 but “have been subject to yearslong interconnection delays.”

“Those projects finally have their interconnection agreements, but they won’t actually be interconnected until 2027 at best because of how long it takes to build those grid upgrades,” Robertson said. “Under the current bill language, these projects would have the rug pulled out from under them.”

She said retroactive changes would hurt investor confidence in the state and recommended that the changes should only apply to projects that submit their interconnection agreements after the bill was filed.

Ally Niphakis of SRECTrade said the bill’s requirement for all net metered systems to enroll in the SMART program could impose significant new costs associated with deploying the metering equipment needed to participate.

Also at the hearing, Clean Fuels Alliance America and the Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, which represent the alternative fuels industry in the state, said the APS should not be repealed until the state implements its longstanding proposal for a clean heat standard.

“While electrification is an important pathway to reducing carbon emissions, it cannot be the only pathway,” said Stephen Dodge of Clean Fuels. “The APS program is currently the most cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions immediately from the thermal heat sector.”

The state released a draft program framework for the CHS in 2023 and had announced plans to finalize the standard in late 2025, with the program taking effect in 2026. However, the administration has walked back this timeline; at the hearing, EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper said there is no implementation timeline for the CHS, adding that “we continue to look at it, but right now it’s not ready.”

In contrast to the biofuels advocates, representatives of climate organizations applauded the proposal to eliminate the APS, arguing that the program, which includes support for combined heat and power systems, is not aligned with the state’s decarbonization targets.

Judge said the APS was “designed to support mostly natural gas-powered combined heat and power facilities” but has been expanded to support additional technologies, including fuel cells and heat pumps. He said recent analysis indicates the program is “not really driving a lot of new projects” and supports some projects with minimal climate benefits.

The legislation would also repeal the requirement for any new nuclear facilities in the state to be approved by a statewide ballot measure. This provision received a mixed response at the legislative hearing, with major climate groups largely refraining from weighing in on the issue.

“We want to be able to look at new nuclear technologies, particularly small modular reactors, as a solution to both our clean energy needs and energy affordability,” Judge said during the webinar. “We just see this as an unnecessary barrier to building these projects; these projects would still have to go through a very robust permitting process at the federal and state levels.”

Why This Matters

The administration is seeking input on a sweeping energy affordability bill that would make significant changes to clean energy procurement, net metering, infrastructure financing and utility accountability.