Mass. solar industry still seeing bright days, but says ‘Big Beautiful Bill' will cast a shadow

Yahoo

5 days ago

WEST SPRINGFIELD — President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Act threw shade on Massachusetts' solar power development just weeks after energy from the sun saved the state's electric ratepayers $8 million on one very hot, very sunny day.
'It is the cheapest and the fastest way to bring energy into the state,' Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said in an interview.
She added that red states — like Florida and Texas — are embracing solar, as well.
'It's a really bipartisan and really popular way of producing energy,' Tepper said.
On July 7, after the domestic policy bill was passed, Trump followed up with an executive order declaring his intention to 'rapidly eliminate the market distortions and costs imposed on taxpayers by so-called 'green' energy subsidies.'
The sunny day Tepper uses as a counterexample was June 24, when high demand — for air conditioning on what felt like a 110-degree day — matched with high production from solar panels.
That meant there was more available power from behind-the-meter photovoltaic systems in households or businesses, and the system didn't need to tap expensive peak power, said Elizabeth Mahony, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, citing data from Holyoke-based ISO New England.
But with a popular 30% federal tax credit for solar systems ending Jan. 1, local installers are fielding calls from homeowners anxious to get in on the deal while they can.
Installers themselves eye an uncertain future.
'I think the long-term impact is that it is going to set the solar industry back some,' said Michael Hempstead, president and owner of Valley Solar headquartered in Easthampton. 'There are going to be job losses. There will be contraction.'
The think tank Energy Innovation Policy and Technology forecasts a 1.8-gigawatt decrease in generation capacity in Massachusetts because of the measures in the reconciliation bill. That includes a 1.4-gigawatt decrease in solar capacity. An average conventional power plant is about 2 gigawatts.
Households in Massachusetts will face significantly increased energy costs, Energy Innovation said. It finds $100 annual increases in household energy bills by 2030 and $120 by 2035.
Energy Innovation also forecasts $8.3 billion in gross domestic product lost by 2035 in Massachusetts and 6,300 job losses here by 2030.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center said there are about 115,000 clean energy workers in the state.
With 30 employees, Valley Solar is the largest independent photovoltaic contractor in Western or Central Massachusetts.
Hempstead's done the math, and without the 30% federal tax credit, the estimated five to six years it would take a $20,000-to-$40,000 solar system to earn back its investment now will take seven to eight years.
ISO estimates that production from small-scale solar installations across New England is expected to grow by two thirds over the next 10 years. Electricity costs also will go up.
'So if energy tends to keep going the way they have been, we still feel bullish about the future of solar in Massachusetts,' Hempstead said.
But, he said solar projects still will get canceled in the wake of Trump's bill.
'The impact of that is going to drive electric prices up even more,' he said.
BlueWave, a solar developer that last year opened a utility-sized project in Palmer designed to allow cows to graze in its shade, said the end of renewable subsidies will increase costs at a time when affordability is already a challenge. Federal tax credits for green energy projects last for just two more years.
'By increasing the cost of capital for solar and wind projects, the bill undermines the sources of energy that stand ready to deploy quickly to meet growing electricity demand,' BlueWave Chief Development Officer Mike Marsch said. 'States can fill part of the gap left by the federal government by working to remove barriers to deployment and drive down the soft costs of solar.'
Mahony said the state's SMART 3 solar incentive program is careful to connect subsidies to the cost to ratepayers, while guaranteeing developers an income over 10 or 20 years.
The SMART 3 program incentivizes solar projects on the built environment, such as rooftops and capped landfills.
'We are hyperfocused on making sure that we can build projects in the next two years, according to the timelines of this bill,' Mahony said.
But no state can completely fill the gap left by the retreating federal government.
'We've been talking to developers. ... They really don't know yet,' Mahony said. 'People taking stock and looking at their pipeline of projects. What can we do to make Massachusetts the place where they can spend their precious resources?'
Valley Solar is branching out, Hempstead said. It's launching a new service, remotely monitoring solar systems — even those installed by others — as well doing repairs on systems that it didn't install. That way, Valley Solar will take advantage as competitors are squeezed out of business.
'We recognize this is a real need in the market,' he said.
Stories by Jim Kinney
Northampton gives up on stalled Calvin deal, puts liquor license back into circulation
Mercy Medical Center nurses ratify contract; raises they say will help patient care
Actor, advocate, author Ed Begley Jr. to speak about his 'wild man' days at Springfield event
Read the original article on MassLive.
Solve the daily Crossword