Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com January 18, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 7 few years. In 2014, the state installed 308 megawatts of solar electric capacity, ranking it fourth in the nation for that year, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association. In 2011, that number was less than 50 mega- watts. With a collective 876 megawatts installed, Massachusetts is sixth nation- ally for overall installed solar capacity. Solar is growing, but it's not yet time to let it stand on its own, said Jurgen Weiss, an energy expert at Cambridge consulting firm Brattle Group. "This is an emerging industry; it has a bunch of benefits, too, for everybody, including for example the fact that it emits less [carbon dioxide] than the power plants we use, and those benefits are not fully reflected in utility prices," Weiss said. In addition to net metering, the state offers solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs), which require utilities to pur- chase a certain amount of solar credits as subsidies. The federal government offers a tax credit that discounts the cost of solar installation by 30 percent. These credits help spur solar growth and are fairer to customers than net metering because they subsidize whole- sale electricity costs, Rabinowitz said. If a customer gets the net metering credit, they would receive the retail 19 cents per kilowatt hour for all excess power they sell back onto the power grid, as opposed to the wholesale 4 cents per kilowatt hour they would receive if they didn't get the net metering credit. "At that wholesale price – plus the SREC and federal tax credit – customers are still getting more than some of the projects in neighboring states." Rabinowitz said. Dumas said he agrees solar is here to stay, but part of the reason the industry is moving forward so quickly is because people are expecting the caps will be raised, as they have been in the past. Legislative debate Both legislative bodies at the Massachusetts State House passed ver- sions of a solar bill in November but were unable to come to a compromise before winter recess began. The House's bill, which proposed raising net meter- ing caps by 2 percentage points, was slammed by the solar industry because it included fixed charges for solar users after a certain number of megawatts. A conference committee with mem- bers of both houses was established to hammer out a compromise. Negotiations are closed, so committee chair Sen. Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield) was unable to comment on them. The caps, which are currently 4 per- cent on private installations and 5 per- cent on public, are calculated as a per- centage of peak electrical uses. Since solar installation owners are paid the higher net-metering rates by the utilities through a collection on ratepayer bills, essentially every electric customer is paying for the net-metering subsidy. Weiss said while net metering is important in solar's early stages, if more growth occurs, changing the subsidy to make payments more fair to all custom- ers might be a good idea. "We ought to have a discussion about how we're going to fund electricity infra- structure in long run, that includes hav- ing a good discussion about making modifications to the utility structure over time," Weiss said. Rabinowitz said she agrees utilities may have to change their structure with the times, and said she would specifi- cally like to see a decrease in the amount of cross-subsidies in utility billing. "We believe solar needs to be a part of the clean energy future. We need to get the structure right so it really can flourish in a way that it's good for the environment, so it's good for custom- ers, so it's sustainable," she said. n Webster • Dudley • Oxford • Auburn • Worcester • Shrewsbury DEPOSIT CHECKS WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR BUSINESS. "WHY NOT?" With Remote Deposit Capture from Webster Five, you simply scan checks at your office to deposit them electronically. No more running to the bank and taking time away from your business. Our secure 24/7 data transmission enables you to make deposits at any time of day and increase your cash flow by depositing checks sooner than later. It's banking on your schedule. And another Webster Five "WHY NOT?". To learn more, visit web5.com/cashmanagement or call 508.890.8606. KHJ21798_WEB239_CashMan_6.5x8.5_MECH.indd 1 10/6/15 11:09 AM MORNING Blend Central Massachusetts Source for Business News www.wbjournal.com T O D AY ' S T O P B U S I N E S S N E W S A N D O P I N I O N S For advertising information contact: Mark Murray, Associate Publisher 508.755.8005 x227 mmurray@wbjournal.com "When net metering caps got filled in National Grid's area, by the way, a new project would get stalled, and that absolutely hurts." Jim Dumas, COO, Solect

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