The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), after months of public comment, released on Tuesday its proposal for a new solar-energy incentive program.
The new program will eliminate Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC).
The new program, called the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target program or SMART program, will establish a solar tariff rate by bidding for 200 megawatt blocks of solar projects. Developers will receive the clearing price for 20 years.
That rate will set the price for other solar projects and will automatically decline 4 percent for every 200 MW block in the future. There will be some “adders” to the base price – for building-mounted systems, solar canopies, and cases in which solar is combined with storage technologies – that would add small amounts to the baseline price.
Projects may still receive net metering credits, but those will offset the tariff to determine the final subsidy. So if the base rate is established at 15-cents and the developer receives net metering credits of 10-cents, the utility will make up the 5-cent subsidy through the tariff.
For more information call EarlyBird Power at 888-SO-EARLY.
