Solar facilities owned by the electric and gas companies

Laws and filings regarding the solar facilities constructed, owned, and operated by the electric and gas companies.

Table of Contents

Overview

Green Communities Act of 2008

The Green Communities Act of 2008 allowed electric companies to construct, own, and operate solar generation facilities.  G.L. c. 164, §1A(f).  This statute has been amended multiple times and currently: 

  1. limits the solar generating capacity allowed by each electric company to not more than 35 megawatts (MWs); and
  2. requires that construction of the solar facilities be completed before December 31, 2019. 

The electric companies must receive pre-approval from the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to build and receive cost recovery for these facilities.  Each electric company submitted proposals to the DPU, which were approved.  To date, each electric company has placed in-service the following solar capacity under this statute:

  • Eversource – 70 MW (before a merger, separate programs were initially approved for NSTAR Electric and WMECo)
  • Unitil – 1.28 MW
  • National Grid - 34 MW 

An electric company may recover the prudently incurred pre‑approved costs associated with constructing, owning, and operating its solar facility.  To pre-approve proposed costs, the legislation required the DPU to determine that:

2021 Climate Act

With the 2021 Climate Act, both electric and gas companies can now own and operate solar generation facilities on utility‑owned land within a municipality.  G.L. c. 164, §1A(g).  To receive DPU approval, a proposed solar generation project must address the following:

  • Where feasible, these facilities should be paired with energy storage facilities to improve community climate adaptation and resiliency or contribute to the Commonwealth meeting its carbon emissions limits;  
  • The municipality in which a facility is located must give its approval for the project and be at high risk from the effects of climate change;
  • Municipalities with environmental justice (EJ) populations receive a preference for participation in the projects;
  • Before approval, distribution companies must conduct an outreach program to promote development of solar energy projects in EJ communities.  The outreach program should create program goals including job creation, peak demand reduction, and system resiliency; and
  • A distribution company cannot construct, own, or operate new facilities equaling more than 10 percent of the total installed megawatt capacity of solar generation facilities in the Commonwealth as of July 31, 2020.  This equals approximately 286 MW per distribution company.

The facilities must receive DPU approval for cost recovery.  To receive cost recovery, the DPU must determine that the proposal:

  • is consistent with the Commonwealth’s energy policies,
  • contributes to the climate change resiliency of the host municipality, and
  • mitigates peak energy demand. 

History of legislation

Electric and gas company filings for pre-approval to construct, own, and operate solar facilities

A. Under the 2021 Climate Act, G.L. c. 164, § 1A(g)

Case number Summary
D.P.U. 22-65

Eversource Gas petition to construct, own, and operate 2 solar energy generation facilities with battery energy storage systems: 

  • 1.89 MW solar and 0.3 MW/1.2 MWh battery energy storage system project in Brockton, MA
  • 1.02 MW solar and 0.25 MW/1 MWh battery energy storage system project in Lawrence, MA
D.P.U. 22-64 Eversource Electric petition to construct, own, and operate a 2.1 MW solar and 0.6 MW/2.4 MWh battery energy storage system at its Emergency Operations Center/Area Work Center in Yarmouth, MA. 

 

B. Under the Green Communities Act of 2008, G.L. c. 164, § 1A(f)

Eversource and WMECo

Case number Subject Summary
D.P.U. 16-105 Petition of Eversource Energy for approval of a request to own, construct and operate solar facilities
  • 19 sites
  • 62 MW program cap
D.P.U. 13-50 Petition of WMECo for revising the company's solar program
  • Approved expansion of a 6 MW cap approved in D.P.U. 09-05 to an 8 MW program cap
D.P.U. 09-05 Petition of WMECo for approval of the company's proposed program to construct, own and operate generation facilities
  • 3 sites
  • 6 MW program cap

 

National Grid

Case number Subject Summary
D.P.U. 16-104 Petition of National Grid to construct, own, and operate solar generation facilities
  • Approval of Solar Phase III Program
  • 7 sites
  • 14 MW program cap
D.P.U. 14-01 Petition of National Grid for approval to construct, own, and operate up to 20 MWs of solar generation
  • Approval of Solar Phase II Program
  • 18 sites
  • 20 MW program cap
D.P.U. 09-38 Petition of National Grid for approval to construct, own, and operate approximately 5 MW of solar generation
  • Approval of Solar Phase I program
  • 5 MW program cap

 

 Unitil

Case number Subject Summary
D.P.U. 16-148 Petition of Unitil for approval of a request to purchase, own, and operate a solar facility
  • 1 site – a 1.279 MW facility

Contact   for Solar facilities owned by the electric and gas companies

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