Massachusetts "SMART" Rates to Boost Community Solar

BOSTON, Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (“DOER”) has released, and solar management company Ampion has reviewed, the results of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (“SMART”) procurement event, establishing incentive prices for new solar development in the state. The solar industry had been awaiting the results since the DOER announced the end of the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (“SREC”) program in September 2016.

“The rates are high enough that capacity will be built, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” states Nate Owen, Ampion CEO. “The New England ISO recently claimed our natural gas-dependent grid is not as reliable as we hoped. Instead of building pipelines and transmission lines, we should build more local, sustainable, and reliable power to support our grid. SMART rates are a step in that direction.”

Under SMART, solar projects are assigned a value based on several variables, including subscriber class, location, and storage compatibility. A portion of that value is determined by the contract of the project, whether it be the net metering, alternative on-bill crediting, qualifying facility, or behind-the-meter contract. Any remaining value is issued to the developer.

“Given that statewide net metering capacities have largely been reached,” comments Ampion Policy Analyst Emily Cosbar, “we anticipate the alternative on-bill crediting mechanism will be a popular choice. Along with net metering, the ‘AOBC’ is the only way projects can qualify as Community Solar, resulting in a higher incentive value than if they received qualifying facility payments or interconnected behind-the-meter.”

Currently, three investor-owned utilities are working with the Department of Public Utilities to finalize tariffs for the SMART program. The program is projected to take effect in June of this year.

About Ampion
Headquartered in Boston, Ampion performs comprehensive Customer and Asset Management for developers, retailers, asset owners, utilities, CCAs, municipalities, and property owners. Ampion supplies billing and payment, performance monitoring, contract management, and customer engagement services, operating under a software-as-a-service paradigm and utilizing a cloud-based platform to enable portfolio and revenue optimization for its clients. To learn more, visit ampion.io or email [email protected].