SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 23M of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting in line 26 after the words “other conventional energy sources” the following:-

“, or (3) participation in a district heating and cooling system by qualifying commercial or industrial real property, or (4) participation in a microgrid, including any related infrastructure for such microgrid, by qualifying commercial or industrial real property, provided such microgrid and any related infrastructure incorporate clean energy, or (5) participation in an energy storage system by qualifying commercial or industrial property when paired with renewable energy generation”

SECTION 2. Said Section 1, as so appearing, is further amended by inserting the following definitions:-

“District heating and cooling system”, a local system consisting of a central generation source and network of pipes that use hot water, chilled water, or steam to provide space heating, cooling and/or hot water to multiple buildings.

“Energy storage system”, a commercially available technology that is capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period of time and thereafter dispatching the energy; provided, however, that an energy storage system shall (1) use mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store energy that was generated for use at a later time; (2) store thermal energy for direct heating or cooling use at a later time in a manner that avoids the need to use electricity at that later time; (3) use mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store energy generated from renewable resources for use at a later time; or (4) use mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to capture or harness waste electricity and to store the waste electricity generated from mechanical processes for delivery at a later time.

“Microgrid”, a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy sources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid and that connects and disconnects from such grid to enable it to operate in both grid connected and island mode.