Bill S.2180

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2437 FILED ON: 2/19/2021

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2180

By Mr. Finegold, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2180) of Barry R. Finegold for legislation to support solar energy deployment in the Commonwealth. Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act supporting solar energy deployment in the Commonwealth.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 21N of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 11 the following section:-

Section 12. The Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs shall establish a program or programs to ensure that no fewer than 550 megawatts of solar, measured in alternating current, are installed in the Commonwealth during calendar year 2023.

i) Such program or programs shall ensure that the minimum level of solar installed during each year shall increase annually after 2023 by no fewer than 50 megawatts of alternating current, until the year 2027, for a total of 3,250 megawatts.

ii) The program or programs established by the Secretary shall ensure that solar installations in the Commonwealth in the year 2028 and beyond continue to increase at a pace sufficient to maintain progress toward [NB – reference to the Commonwealth’s target of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.]

SECTION 2. Chapter 21N of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 11 the following section:-

Section 13. To achieve the minimum solar installation targets established in Section 12 of this chapter, and to create a simplified approach to encouraging the continuous deployment of distributed solar in the Commonwealth, the Department of Public Utilities shall establish alternative rates for different solar project sizes and customer types that are designed to enable the financing and deployment of new residential, commercial, and ground-mounted distributed generation projects, including community solar projects serving all income levels. The Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Public Utilities shall coordinate with each other to facilitate a smooth transition between the Commonwealth’s existing solar incentive program and a new solar program using the alternative rates established under this section. Such alternative rates shall be approved by the Department no later than December 31, 2022.

i) In establishing such rates, the Department shall consider the following benefits provided by distributed generation facilities: avoided energy purchases, avoided capacity purchases, avoided distribution costs, avoided line losses, avoided environmental compliance costs, enhanced reliability, avoided damages from greenhouse gas emissions, equity and environmental justice benefits, and any other benefits determined by the Department.

ii) In establishing such rates, the Department shall also consider developing time differentiated rates, as well as consider alternative rates that encourage social justice, promote environmental justice, and the siting of clean energy projects in underserved communities.

iii) The Department, in consultation with the Secretary, shall periodically review and may adjust such rates to ensure compliance with the minimum solar deployment requirements established in Section 1.

iv) Within two years of establishing the rates described in this section, the Department shall commission a study of the costs and benefits of distributed generation resources. The Department may use such study as a basis for further adjustment to the rates described in this section.

v) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to alter provisions for net metering established under section 139 of chapter 164 of the General Laws.

SECTION 3. Chapter 21N of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 11 the following section:-

Section 14. (a) The Secretary shall establish a new program to create green jobs by solarizing the built environment in the Commonwealth.

(b) Under this program, beginning on January 1, 2023, all new buildings constructed in the Commonwealth shall be required to incorporate solar generation facilities with capacity sufficient to serve at least 50% of the expected electrical load of the building. Such solar facilities shall be located on the same or adjacent property, unless doing so would be infeasible. Under this program, beginning on January 1, 2025, all existing commercial buildings in the Commonwealth with a flat roof of equal to or greater than 50,000 square feet shall be required to incorporate solar generation facilities with capacity sufficient to serve at least 50% of the expected electrical load of the building. Such solar facilities shall be located on the same or adjacent property, unless doing so would be infeasible or prohibitively costly.

i. The Secretary shall establish provisions to allow building owners that are unable to co-locate solar facilities on-site to comply via off-site options, including by funding or participating in solar generation projects located elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

ii. Department shall direct the electric and natural gas distribution companies to modify the Mass Save program to establish mechanisms to ensure that building owners’ compliance with this program does not unduly harm low income residents.

SECTION 4. Chapter 25A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 17 the following section:-

Section 18. The Department of Energy Resources shall implement a new program or programs to target unique barriers to clean energy adoption. The program shall address, at a minimum, the following challenges:

a. Challenges in increasing low-income participation in state clean energy programs, including both residential and community solar programs;

b. Challenges related to co-locating solar projects with agricultural uses;

c. Challenges related to balancing the need for more clean energy with preserving open space and community character;

d. Challenges associated with solarizing older buildings, brownfields, and parking lots; and

e. Challenges associated with addressing environmental justice concerns through the state’s clean energy programs.

SECTION 5. Chapter 25A of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after section 10A the following section:-

Section 10B. (a) Beginning January 1, 2022, the division of green communities shall implement a Solar Opportunity Zones initiative as a new component of the green communities program. The goals of the Solar Opportunity Zones initiative shall be to identify locations throughout the Commonwealth to be designated as preferred areas for siting additional ground-mounted solar; to provide incentives to communities and electric utilities to facilitate greater deployment of ground-mounted solar in such areas; and to minimize land use conflicts between solar deployment and other uses. Solar Opportunity Zones established through this initiative shall be of sufficient size to enable significant levels of ground-mounted solar development to continue. In developing Solar Opportunity zones, the division will consult with the attorney general’s office, the electric distribution companies, municipalities, and industry stakeholders.

(b) In establishing Solar Opportunity Zones, the division shall take into account and balance factors including: the overall need for clean energy to meet the Commonwealth’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas goals, the availability of land, the availability of distribution and transmission infrastructure, the suitability of parcels for the construction of solar facilities, the receptiveness of local communities, impacts on farmland, and impacts on other environmental concerns.

(c) The division shall establish incentives and other mechanisms to encourage communities located within Solar Opportunity Zones to reduce barriers to solar development. Barriers addressed through the Solar Opportunity Zones initiative shall include, but not be limited to, local permitting, zoning, and taxation policies and practices.

(d) The Department of Public Utilities, in consultation with the division, shall establish incentives and other mechanisms to encourage electric utilities in the Commonwealth to rapidly and proactively upgrade and adapt the distribution and transmission grid that serves Solar Opportunity Zones to facilitate increased levels of solar installations in those areas.

(e) The division shall establish at least one Solar Opportunity Zone within each of the service territories of the Commonwealth’s electric distribution companies no later than January 1, 2022.

(f) The division shall annually publish a report detailing progress in establishing Solar Opportunity Zones and the number of additional megawatts of solar installed within each Zone.

Name:	District/Address:
Barry R. Finegold	Second Essex and Middlesex