CPS Emergency Rulemaking October 11, 2024
On October 11, 2024, the Department filed an emergency rulemaking with the Secretary of State that makes changes to 225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard (CPS), effective immediately. This Follow-on Emergency Rulemaking retains and is complimentary to the changes made in the July 19, 2024 CPS Emergency Rulemaking. The changes in the Follow-on Emergency Rulemaking are as follows:
- ACP Rate: The ACP Rate shall remain $45 through Compliance Year 2025. Starting Compliance Year 2026, the ACP Rate shall be $65 through Compliance Year 2032. Thereafter, the ACP Rate shall be $45 and will hold fixed at that price for the remainder of the program, subject to the provisions of 225 CMR 21.08(3)(a)3.
- CPEC Procurement: The initial 30% procurement target and Market Supply mechanism by which Department may increase subsequent procurement targets are both removed. The Department will also establish a date by which it will publish a staggered procurement schedule. The Schedule will be posted to the Department's website.
- CPEC Banked Compliance: The Department changes how far out Retail Electric Suppliers may use a CPEC produced in one Compliance Year for compliance in a future Compliance Year from three years to two years.
- Summer Seasonal Peak Period: The Department changes the Summer Seasonal Peak Period from 3:00 – 7:00 P.M. to 4:00 – 8:00 P.M. to reflect shifting of Summer peak over time.
The Department notes that during the July 19, 2024 emergency rulemaking process, many stakeholders expressed in their comments the urgent need for changes to the ACP Rate and CPEC Procurement, as such changes impact the ability of a large portfolio of projects to move forward toward deployment and commercial operation.
A clean and redline version of the updated CPS Regulation can be seen below. Per G.L. c. 30A.
225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard - CLEAN
225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard - REDLINE
The Department held a public hearing to receive verbal and written comments on the emergency regulation on November 18th, 2024. Written comments received by the the Department can be found below.
CPS Emergency Rulemaking Stakeholder Comments
For any questions regarding the CPS emergency rulemaking, please contact: DOER.CPS@mass.gov.
Draft Near-Term Resource Multiplier Guideline
On August 23, 2024, DOER published a draft of the Near-Term Resource Multiplier Guideline which may be found below. DOER releases this draft guideline to solicit stakeholder feedback on the eligibility, value, and application requirements for the Near-Term Resource Multiplier, which was created and defined in DOER’s Clean Peak Energy Standard Emergency Rulemaking filed on July 19, 2024, information below. As this is a draft guideline, DOER is not taking capacity reservations for the Near-Term Resource Multiplier at this time, and any element of this draft guideline is subject to change.
DRAFT Near-Term Resource Multiplier Guideline
Stakeholders may provide feedback on this guideline at the Clean Peak Energy Standard Emergency Rulemaking Public Hearing on Monday, August 26, 2024 from 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. EDT. If you have not already registered for the Public Hearing, you may do so here. Stakeholders may also provide written comments to DOER and those should be sent to doer.cps@mass.gov by Friday, September 13, 2024 at 5:00 P.M. EDT.
Clean Peak Energy Standard Public Hearing
On Monday, August 26, 2024 the Department held a public hearing to receive verbal and written comments on the emergency regulation filed on July 19, 2024. A clean and redline version of the updated CPS Regulation can be seen in the sections above.
Comments received by the Department can be accessed below:
CPS Emergency Rulemaking July 19, 2024
On July 19, 2024, DOER filed an emergency rulemaking with the Secretary of State that makes changes to 225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard (CPS), effective immediately. This emergency rulemaking, which overrides the CPS emergency rulemaking filed on July 12, 2024, retains the change made to the 2024 Minimum Standard in the July 12, 2024, CPS emergency rulemaking filing as well as:
- Changes the Minimum Standard from 2025 through 2050 and
- Adds a Near-Term Resource Multiplier for Qualified Energy Storage Systems that are not co-located with a Qualified RPS Resource or a Demand Response Resource and that are interconnected to the Distribution System.
DOER held a public hearing on August 26th to receive oral testimony and collected 20 sets of stakeholder comments, which can be found below.
On September 24, 2024, the Department filed the Notice of Compliance with the Secretary of State for the CPS emergency rulemaking that was filed on July 19, 2024. The Notice of Compliance will publish in the Massachusetts Register on October 11, 2024 and confirm that the changes made in the July 19, 2024 Emergency Rulemaking have been made permanent.
225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard - CLEAN
For any questions regarding the CPS emergency rulemaking, please contact: DOER.CPS@mass.gov.
CPS Emergency Rulemaking July 12, 2024
PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Rulemaking filed by DOER on July 12, 2024 has been superseded by the Emergency Rulemaking filed by the Department on July 19, 2024. See above for additional information.
On July 12, 2024, the Department of Energy Resources (Department) filed an emergency rulemaking with the Secretary of State that makes changes to 225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard, effective immediately. The emergency rulemaking changes the Clean Peak Energy Standard by decreasing the 2024 Minimum Standard in order to shelter ratepayers from the impacts of high Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) collection during anticipated CPEC market undersupply conditions.
A clean and redline version of the updated CPS Regulation can be seen below. Per G.L. c. 30A. DOER will hold a public hearing and comment period, dates and location will be announced via a stakeholder email announcement and posted below.
225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard - CLEAN
225 CMR 21.00 Clean Peak Energy Standard - REDLINE
The Department still plans to conduct a full review of the CPS, as required by 225 CMR 21.05(6)(g), 225 CMR 21.07(3), 225 CMR 21.08(3)(5). The Department solicited stakeholder feedback for the full Program review on March 25, 2024 and received public comments on May 3, 2024. More information on the Program review may be found above.
For any questions regarding the CPS emergency rulemaking, please contact: DOER.CPS@mass.gov.
Stakeholder Feedback
As part of the 2024 CPS Review, DOER seeks stakeholder feedback on the following questions, which may be found below.
The deadline for submitting written comments on the questions is May 3, 2024 by 5pm EST. Written comments should be submitted to DOER.CPS@mass.gov with “CPS Review Comments” in the subject line. As an alternative, the public may submit written comments via mail to the Department of Energy Resources, 100 Cambridge Street, 9th Floor, Boston, MA 02114, attention Samantha Meserve. Please be advised that there may be delays in receiving written comments via the mail.