The Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) this morning issued the following statement on H. 4173. This statement may be attributed to Jeff Cramer, executive director of CCSA.
“The Coalition for Community Solar Access applauds the House and Senate leadership and Conference Committee members for reaching an agreement that keeps solar working right now for Massachusetts families and businesses. This legislation, H.4173, will allow dozens of community solar projects to move forward across the Commonwealth in the coming months. That means we can put our employees back to work building local clean-energy projects, generate tax revenue for towns, and most importantly, give our customers the bill savings they’ve been waiting for.
This bill appropriately calls for community solar to be prioritized in the incentive program to be developed by the Department of Energy Resources. We appreciate the legislature’s recognition that all customers should have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from local clean power, not just those lucky enough to have sunny roofs. We look forward to working with the Baker administration to ensure the incentive program effectively supports community solar, to make that promise a reality.
Looking beyond the short-term compromise embodied in this legislation, it’s important to recognize that Massachusetts and our nation broadly face a sweeping transformation of our electric industry, not unlike the transition from landlines to cell phones. We can expect a busy few years on energy policy, and part of that will be creating a stable market for community solar that removes arbitrary caps and more accurately values the local, reliable clean power provided by community solar facilities. We are confident that working together, Massachusetts can continue to be a clean-energy leader, and today’s action by the legislature is an important step forward.”
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Finzel, 202-277-6286, ben@communitysolaraccess.org