The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill yesterday that its authors are referring to as “an act to save people money, repair the climate and grow the economy.” One way legislators intend to do this is by reforming and streamlining residential solar permitting processes statewide.
The state’s energy omnibus bill was passed by the House in March (H5151), and has undergone rounds of amendments in the Senate (S3143). The “Commonwealth smart solar permitting platform” would handle solar project permitting digitally with the goal of reducing time-intensive manual re-reviews and the costs involved with the process. Documents submission, permitting checklists, related fees and project approval notices would be handled digitally. The state intends to host this solar permitting platform on a public website.
“Massachusetts families have been waiting too long and paying too much for relief from sky-high electricity bills,” said Nicole Gentile, advocacy director at Permit Power, a solar nonprofit group. “Today the Senate delivered real, meaningful relief. Smart permitting alone will save families thousands of dollars on home solar, money that goes right back into their pockets.”
This would be available to municipalities statewide at no cost. The legislation would require municipalities to adopt the smart solar permitting platform, or another similar means of electronic submission for solar project permitting. Implementing a permitting program of this kind could save Massachusetts homeowners intending to build solar $2,040 by 2030 and $5,540 by 2040, according to an analysis by Permit Power.
S3143 includes a provision to create a solar incentive program across market scales in Massachusetts. The program would be established after a period for public comments and market analysis to establish an incentive rate. There are also plans to create a program for decarbonization, energy efficiency, solar energy in public education and to establish a group for residential solar protections.
“The working group shall aim to facilitate affordable solar system adoption and improve system performance, customer satisfaction and consumer protection over the entire lifecycle of residential solar system products and contracts,” the legislation reads.
In its earlier iterations, this bill intended to reduce funding to Mass Save, a energy efficiency program for residential and commercial utility customers, by $1 billion, but the Senate has voted to maintain that funding. The bill now returns to the House before possibly being sent to Gov. Maura Healey to be signed into law.
“As electricity demand soars, Massachusetts needs policies that make it easier to build the energy infrastructure that the economy depends on,” said Ruthie DeWit, Northeast state affairs director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. “This legislation takes meaningful steps to accelerate project development, strengthen grid reliability, and keep electricity costs affordable while reinforcing the Commonwealth’s leadership on clean energy.”
