Renewable Energy Policies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts By Trisha Parekh
Image retrieved from GreenBiz, Energy equity: bringing solar power to low-income communities, by Diyana Dimitrova
Introduction We use electricity for a variety of domestic, commercial and industrial purposes including powering our buildings and facilities, operating heavy machinery in manufacturing plants, and more recently, even transportation. Electricity production is our number one source of greenhouse gas emissions and has deteriorated our planet over the decades. Energy harnessed from renewable sources such as the Sun, wind, water and biomass is much less harmful for the environment. For this reason, the forward-thinking, sustainable leadership and government, encourage production of renewable energy for their own use.
Massachusetts has a long history of promoting renewable energy and related technologies. From the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS), which was one of the first programs in the nation that required a certain percentage of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources, to the newest Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART), Massachusetts continues to expand its initiatives to include renewable energy to its electricity grid.
The graph below provides information about various sources of renewable energy generation in Massachusetts and elaborates how much energy has been generated from 2003 to 2017 from these renewable sources. Quantifying this bar graph, a total of 3.35M megawatt hours of electricity was generated using wind farms in 2017, and a total of 2.03M megawatt hours of solar electricity was produced by utility-scale plants and small-
scale solar facilities, including rooftop solar arrays. Today, Massachusetts generates 137.7K megawatt hours of solar energy per month, during peak summer.
Fig.1 – Renewable energy generation in Massachusetts (Retrieved from “Mass.gov, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources�)
In the past two decades, tens of Bills and Laws relating to renewable energy planning, funding and implementation have been put in action, and gained traction. While some programs have gained immense success, some others have failed miserably. This report aims to explore the different Solar & Wind energy policies and incentive programs in Massachusetts, investigate their inception and implementation, learn how these policies
effect the people within immediate- local and distant-remote communities, and in the process, study their successes and failures. The paper will talk about how these policies have affected the environment, the economy and society.
The Solar Story In April 2016, the 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved an amendment to the Chapter 75 and said that “for the continued support of solar power generation and a transition to a stable and equitable solar market at a reasonable cost to ratepayers, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.� Under this amendment, the Commonwealth indicated that the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) develop a statewide solar incentive program to encourage the continued development of solar renewable energy generating sources by residential, commercial, governmental and industrial electricity customers throughout the Commonwealth (Chapter 75, General Laws). The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources had already launched the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) program in 2010. From 2010 to 2014, the DOER qualified existing solar projects under its umbrella, until after reaching a 400-megawatt capacity, after which the DOER released the SREC-II program, with a goal of installing 1600-megawatt of solar capacity by 2020. In an attempt to promote the existing program and encourage the microgeneration of solar energy, the system was incentivized. In other words, the program provided individual panel owners with credits based on the amount of solar energy generated by their panels. These SRECs can then be sold in the open market for money. The reason why there is a big market for solar credits is because the
state has mandated all electricity suppliers to provide a certain percentage of their electricity using solar energy. The amendment under Chapter 75 also emphasized a “stable and self-sustaining� solar incentive program which considers the underlying system costs such as installation costs, operation costs and maintenance costs. Like any market works, this system also fluctuates based on the supply and demand. Furthermore, the program goals are regulated using a declining block incentive program, which means that as the program reaches closer to its target solar capacity, the incentives are lowered. By employing these measures, the program follows the policy’s motto of keeping people and communities at the center. In fact, the policy states that the program devised by DOER be inclusive of different types and sizes of solar installations, that provide unique benefits to community shared solar facilities, low-income solar facilities and governmental owner solar facility. The policy also stresses on the program being framed such that it ensures that utility customers realize the direct benefits of the solar incentive program and encourages long-term investors through revenue stability. Since the program reached its goal of 1600-megawatt solar capacity in 2018, much before the target year 2020, a new program called SMART or Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program was launched by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and aims to install yet another 1600-megawatts of solar capacity. SMART is very different from the SREC programs. It is sponsored by National Grid, Eversource and Until and these electricity utilities pay a flat rate to owners of solar arrays for ever kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they produce. In other words, every time an individual owner of solar panels sends solar electricity to the grid, these utilities pay a flat rate to the owner. The SMART program encourages individual panel owners to participate by setting a 5-megawatt per owner limit. Naturally, panel owners who apply for this program first, get a higher
incentive on the flat base rate. Other factors governing the base rate are the utility area where the panels are installed, for example, an adder to the base rate is applied if the panel owner installs their solar panels on sites that are less likely to be used for other purposes including spaces such as landfills, brownfields or rooftops. On the other hand, a subtractor is applied to the flat rate when panel owners install panels on highly favorable land such as agricultural land, forested land and greenfield. This feature is great because it considers one of the biggest environmental impacts of solar energy generation, which is land degradation.
Fig.2 – Solar and wind projects in Massachusetts’ landfills (Source – Mass.gov)
The above programs impact Massachusetts’ energy policy goals by bringing the state’s solar energy portfolio to 3,800-megawatts, which is 10% of Massachusetts’ annual electricity need. One of the biggest drawbacks with harnessing solar energy is that it can be harvested and used only while the sun shines. The battery technology available today is limited; therefore, the harnessed solar energy cannot be stored for nighttime use. By incentivizing the deployment of battery storage technology and energy storage, the SMART program attempts to resolve the beforementioned problem. Speaking from an economic standpoint, although the SMART program offers less money, it provides much more predictable revenue than SRECs, whose prices would vary based on the market. This gives individual panel owners under the SMART program a sense of stability.
The Wind Story Wind energy is generated using large on-shore (located on land) and off-shore (located in ocean waters) wind turbines, placed either singularly, or as clusters. Because wind turbines require higher installation and operational cost, it is not suitable for individual/residential investment. Nonetheless, small corporations, for-profits and nonprofits invest in wind energy generation. The RPS or Renewable Portfolio Standard presents utilities with a wide variety of renewable energy option, one of them being wind energy. Although the peak wind energy generation in Massachusetts is only about 15-20% of solar energy generation (in April 2019, the monthly wind generation in Massachusetts was 24.66K megawatt hours, and that year’s solar peak was 137.79K megawatt hours), the two systems work differently, have their set of advantages & disadvantages, and therefore it is unfair to compare the two. For this reason, wind energy policies and programs have
a different nature compared to solar energy policies and programs. Comparing the two types of wind energy systems, onshore and offshore, the oceans have higher and more consistent wind speeds, making offshore wind largely more efficient. However, as one can imagine, the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines is several folds costlier than onshore wind turbines. In Massachusetts, most onshore wind turbines are located on the Atlantic coastline and along the Metacomet Range. This section of the report will explore the different wind energy policies and incentives.
In August 2016, Governor Baker passed the Act to Promote Energy Diversity, which suggested a diversification in the sources of renewable energy generation across Massachusetts. This act created a lot of emphasis and opportunity for the procurement of offshore wind energy. A new goal of installing 1,600 megawatts of wind energy by 2027 was set. Consequently, the Department of Energy and Resources, DOER Massachusetts and electricity distribution utilities such as National Grid and Eversource coordinated RFPs for wind energy projects. In May 2018, a contract for installing 800 megawatts of offshore wind energy was given to Vineyard Wind Project. In 2019, construction on the first offshore wind farm in Massachusetts waters began. Since ocean governance is tricky, the wind energy operations fall under the authority of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) works closely with BOEM for planning and execution of the state’s offshore wind energy projects. As construction in oceans involves a wide range of stakeholders, an intergovernmental task force involving scientists, commercial and recreational fishermen, representatives from port authorities, and environment protection groups, along with MassCEC and BOEM,
has been formed to oversee the operations and decision making of various offshore wind energy projects. Protecting ocean habitats becomes a major cause for concern while building in the ocean, therefore a Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan was devised in 2009, and later revised in 2015, for the protection of marine habitats. The plan involves a thoughtful planning of transmission corridors, to locate wind turbines and bring electricity from these turbines to the shore. Additionally, periodic ocean studies and surveys, such as the Metocean Data Needs Assessment and Data Collection Strategy Development, are performed to supervise the health of marine biology in these regions.
Fig.3 – A rendering of the Vineyard Wind installation in Massachusetts waters (Source – arstechnica.com)
Simultaneously, several onshore wind energy projects have taken off, in basically three broad categories: a) Small wind, being wind energy projects with capacities lesser than 100-kilowatts. b) Community wind, consisting of two or more wind turbines with 100-kilowatt capacity. c) Commercial wind, projects which supply to a municipal light plant system or the New England electricity market, with over three wind turbines, fall under this category. Numerous wind projects in Massachusetts belong to and are operated by communities, non-profits and schools. Some examples include the wind turbine at McGlynn elementary school in Medford and the ones at the Joint Airforce Base in Cape Cod. An example of a large-scale commercial wind project is the 15-megawatts Berkshire Wind Project in Hancock. A significant part of the development of wind energy projects begins with a research of development sites based on wind velocities. Using GIS, other geographic layers, such as topography, demography, development density, etc. are analyzed. Laws for zoning and wind energy development projects are modeled by DOER, Massachusetts and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Cities and towns that wish to develop wind farms follow these laws. An additional resource and aid for these communities is the MassCEC. A review criteria for wind projects, based on economic and technical viability of the wind project, safety concerns that may arise during installation and operation, acoustic impacts caused by wind turbines, and other environmental impacts, has been elaborated by MassCEC.
Fig.4 – Wind resources and operating turbines in Massachusetts (Source – mass.gov)
Of the many wind energy projects across the Commonwealth, a special one stands out. In November 2007, the 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed a bill authorizing the town of Falmouth to install, finance and operate wind energy facilities. This wind farm was to be installed at the town’s wastewater treatment facility located on Blacksmith Shop road. The government lent money for site preparation, equipment cost, and other installation costs. The town would then pay back from the profit generated by selling wind energy to utilities. In 2010, the town had two 1.65megawatts wind turbines, in a hope to contribute greatly to Massachusetts’ clean energy. However, soon after the first wind turbine became operational, the surrounding
community started to raise their concerns about the high level of noise caused by these turbines. Slowly, these concerns became complains of continuous insomnia, headaches, psychological disturbances, dental injuries, etc., so the government had to intervene. Since the town had invested $10 million into this project, the stakes were very high. At this point, Governor Baker rose to the situation, “I think, sometimes when something doesn’t go the way it should go, everybody blames the concept,” he said. “Well, sometimes, we just screw up the way we actually implement it, which makes the concept look bad”. Immediate action was taken and after several sound testing, it was determined that the wind turbines did in fact exceed the 10-decibel threshold at night at just one home. However, these properties located on a highway, anyhow received an ambient noise of 40-decibel due to approaching vehicles. The neighbors and wind farm owner had to come to a compromise that the wind turbines would run on a 7 am to 7 pm schedule and provide substantial mitigation to the proven harm, with no irreparable harm to the town. A reduced renewable energy production would cost financial penalties to the town of Falmouth coupled with the decreased revenue generation.
Having discussed the three solar energy policies and the wind energy acts and policies, it is important to study how the programs were devised, how successful they have been, and what impacts have they caused on people and communities. How and why were these policies formulated? State level policies impact the government, individual citizens, commercial groups, environmental groups and the common communities. Geography, availability of natural resources and consumer needs are some of the factor which affect the formulation and
feasibility of energy policies. These policies generally address policy related norms and regulations, taxes and other incentives. Massachusetts does not have proven oil or natural gas reserves, therefore the State implemented funding and financial incentive programs (such as the SREC I & II and SMART) to increase investment in renewable energy generation for the state’s use, without having to purchase energy from outside. In other words, by creating policies and programs that effectively reduce production costs, compliance costs and investment risks, the state encourages individuals and businesses to generate renewable energy, to replenish the state’s electricity supply. In this case, the policy is a clear win-win. How these policies and programs were implemented was, firstly, the state mandated an increased percentage of electricity provided by utilities to come from renewable energy sources. This is known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard and created a huge demand for solar energy production. Next, the state provided several grants and loans for individuals and businesses to install and run small to medium scale solar facilities. One such state-funded agency which distributes grants is the MassCEC or the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. Similarly, the Commonwealth Wind Program distributes grants for wind energy generation. Naturally, groups eligible for these grants vary from program to program, but generally include nonprofits, for-profits, limited liability companies, legally registered corporations and public entities. By making it affordable and convenient for people to produce renewable energy, the policy bridges the market supply-demand gap. Obviously, these operations are kept in check by certain legislative regulations and additional policies. For example, all projects need to abide by the International Energy Conservation Code or IECC as well as a statewide net metering policy help regulate operations.
How successful are these policies? The solar carve outs (SREC and SREC-II) as well as the SMART programs accomplished their solar capacity goals much before their target deadlines. The state now has enough solar electricity to power 480,323 homes. This shows that the programs have been very successful. A total of 106,073 solar installations have been deployed in the last 10 years. The graph below shows Massachusetts’ annual solar installations from 2010 to 2019. From the graphs below, it is clear that most of the solar installations took place in 2016 and 2017, a few years after the SREC-II program came out. It is useful to note that while most of the residential installations took place in 2015 and 2016, the year of 2017 saw a boom in commercial installations. One of the reasons for installations to pick up a few years after the launch of SREC-II could be because the market picked up slowly and saw its peak in 2015. This could also be the reason for so many commercial investors. However, the new solar installations in 2018 and 2019 diminished considerably. This could either be because of people’s hesitance towards a revised policy (SMART) or because of the economy in general.
Fig.5 – Massachusetts annual solar installations (Source – Mass.gov)
Some notable installations in Massachusetts are: •
A 6.9-megawatt capacity solar array at the Barnstable Municipal Airport.
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A 3-megawatt capacity solar installation at 100 Meadow Solar in Boston.
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A 2-megawatt solar array in Natick, installed by retailers such as Bed Bath and Beyond & FedEx.
In fact, these solar programs and policies have been great for the economy and hence the people and their communities. Firstly, with 545 solar companies and a total solar investment of $7000 million, 10,400 solar jobs have been created in Massachusetts. Moreover, because of the eagerness of people to install solar panels on their property, the cost and installation of solar panels has gone down by 38% over the past 5 years.
The location and climatic conditions of Massachusetts also makes the state highly conducive to harnessing wind energy. For this reason, towns like Bourne, Brewster, Carver, Charlton, Cohasset, Dartmouth (as-of-right), Dennis, Douglas, Dunstable, Duxbury, Edgartown, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Freetown, Gloucester, Hamilton, Harwich, Kingston
(as-of-right),
Manchester-by-the-Sea,
Marion,
Marshfield,
Mashpee,
Mattapoisett, Millbury, Milton (as-of-right), Nantucket, North Reading, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Sandwich, Savoy, Topsfield, Wareham, Wenham (as-of-right) and Westport have wind bylaws in place, to protect the well-being of local communities and activities, and ensure that their daily livelihoods aren’t affected by a boom in onshore wind energy farms. While these bylaws make it difficult to site wind turbines, after the case of Falmouth, it is clear why they are of such importance. In fact, these laws also address the
environmental implications of siting wind turbines, ensuring that no significant disruptions are caused to the flora and fauna. In spite of these much-needed restrictions, Massachusetts has five operating wind turbines that produce nearly 5-megawatts of electricity. Although this number is nowhere in comparison to the solar energy generate by the state, Massachusetts makes up for all the lost opportunity with its new offshore wind energy initiatives. According to Mass.gov, wind energy development is creating local jobs and new revenues for communities. “From innovative technology development, manufacturing and installation, to leasing agricultural and ranch lands, wind power is inspiring economic development across many sectors� (Mass.gov).
To conclude, renewable forms of energy are the future of this planet. Their supply is unlimited, and their operation does not cause any significant environmental damage. Renewable energy generation also creates several job opportunities and means of revenue for communities. Because people can be such an integral part of renewable energy generation, this is a great means to motivate people to participate in this mission to reverse climate change. By providing them with financial benefits, the renewable energy policies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has created a wonderful win-win situation. However, our goals should grow with each step, and our quest to find batteries that can store solar energy for nighttime use shouldn’t end. Massachusetts is ahead of the renewable energy game and this is largely because of the brilliantly crafted policies.
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Mass.gov, Onshore Wind - https://www.mass.gov/service-details/onshore-wind MassCEC, Commonwealth Wind - https://www.masscec.com/program-page-6470 Mass.gov, MassGIS Data: Modeled Wind Speed Grids https://docs.digital.mass.gov/dataset/massgis-data-modeled-wind-speed-grids Mass.gov, Wind Energy Model Zoning By-Law - https://www.mass.gov/service-details/windenergy-model-zoning-by-law 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chapter 175, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE FINANCING OF WIND ENERGY FACILITIES IN THE TOWN OF FALMOUTH https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2010/Chapter175 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chapter 200, AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF FALMOUTH TO INSTALL, FINANCE AND OPERATE WINDE ENERGY FACILITIES - https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2007/Chapter200 Brad Cole, 2019, The Falmouth Enterprise, Falmouth Wind Turbines Called 'Disaster' On National Stage - https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/falmouth-wind-turbines-called-disaster-onnational-stage/article_7fb950b0-2758-54b3-a61b-1a26ce9d0906.html Energy and Policy Institute - https://www.energyandpolicy.org/wind-health-impacts-dismissedin-court/falmouth-wind-farm-case/ Mass.gov, Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Modules - Wind Power https://www.mass.gov/service-details/smart-growth-smart-energy-toolkit-modules-wind-power Mass.gov, Map of Solar & Wind Projects at Massachusetts Landfills https://www.mass.gov/service-details/map-of-solar-wind-projects-at-massachusetts-landfills BallotPedia, Energy policy in Massachusetts https://ballotpedia.org/Energy_policy_in_Massachusetts#Policy US eia, Massachusetts https://www.eia.gov/beta/states/states/ma/data/dashboard/renewables Sarah Shemkus, State goals, policy help Massachusetts utilities take lead on energy efficiency https://energynews.us/2020/03/13/northeast/state-goals-policy-help-massachusetts-utilitiestake-lead-on-energy-efficiency/ Mass.gov, Installed solar capacity in Massachusetts - https://www.mass.gov/infodetails/renewable-energy-snapshot#installed-solar-capacity-in-massachusetts191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chapter 75, AN ACT RELATIVE TO SOLAR ENERGY - https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2016/Chapter75 EnergySage, Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART): Massachusetts’ SREC II replacement program - https://news.energysage.com/solar-massachusetts-renewable-targetsmart-massachusetts-srec-replacement-program/ Mass.gov, Solar Carve-out and Solar Carve-Out II (SREC II) Statement of Qualification Application - https://www.mass.gov/guides/solar-carve-out-and-solar-carve-out-ii-srec-ii-statement-ofqualification-application
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Solar Energy Industries Association, Massachusetts Solar - https://www.seia.org/state-solarpolicy/massachusetts-solar National Grid, Massachusetts SMART https://www9.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/home/energyeff/4_smart.asp SMART, Building a Brighter Future for Massachusetts - http://masmartsolar.com/ Climate Xchange, 11 SMART questions answered: the facts on Massachusetts’ new solar program - https://climate-xchange.org/2018/10/04/11-smart-questions-answered-the-facts-onmassachusetts-new-solar-program/