Massachusetts’ state energy efficiency bill contains some positive support for solar energy but falls short on efforts to reduce energy bills, according to US renewables advocacy groups.
The Massachusetts Energy Omnibus bill includes provisions to speed up permitting for solar projects, flexible interconnection measures to allow small PV projects to avoid delays resulting from a queue of larger projects and increasing the threshold for municipal net metering repayments to 20MW, which would make solar more attractive atop schools and government buildings.
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The bill also introduces an enhanced virtual power plant (VPP) policy, allowing greater interaction between small PV and energy storage systems to support the grid during times of high demand.
But the move to cut US$1 billion from the state’s Mass Save programme – a grant for installing residential energy efficiency measures like solar and heat pumps – has garnered criticism from renewables industry groups.
“While many of the solar provisions in the bill will help to meet Massachusetts climate goals, the bill misses an opportunity to rein in costs by reducing fossil fuel spending and utility expenditures,” reads a statement from solar advocacy group Vote Solar. The group said that the decision to cut the Mass Save energy bill reduction programme alongside “no cuts to our ballooning subsidies of gas infrastructure” was “short-sighted”.
“The proposed funding cuts to the Commonwealth’s nation-leading energy efficiency programme would meaningfully harm our state’s efforts to address the energy affordability crisis,” said Vote Solar’s North East regional director, Elena Weissman. “Maintaining strong investments in proven programs like Mass Save is essential to lowering energy bills and reducing demand on our energy grid. As this process continues, we look forward to collaborating with lawmakers to ensure that they address the true drivers of rising energy bills, leading Massachusetts toward a clean energy future that works for everyone.”
US climate group the Sierra Club said that the decision to cut US$1 billion from Mass Save was “unacceptable”. In a statement following the passage of the bill, it said: “At a time when the federal government is reversing course in these areas, now is not the time to step back from commitments made as recently as 2024.”
State government support for renewables has been under fresh focus in the US after the Trump administration’s ideological turn away from clean energy. Following the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” act last summer, federal incentives for both residential and utility-scale renewables have been rolled back, and both industry and consumers have looked to state governments for support.
Last month, Vote Solar’s executive director, Sachu Constantine, told PV Tech Premium that the “one big bollocks of a bill” could be met with robust state actions to promote renewables. He praised state leaders who were taking decisive action: “We’re seeing them take up this question of affordability, this question of transition, this question of reliability and resilience, questions over which they, as state leaders, have quite a bit of control,” he said.
