On August 11, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed H5060, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind, into law. This wide-sweeping climate legislation relaxes the net-metering cap for residential solar projects up to 25 kW, establishes incentives for pollinator-friendly community solar and commercial and industrial projects and creates a new council that will proactively work to improve the state’s transmission and distribution grid planning.

“Massachusetts just enacted groundbreaking climate legislation that will help the Commonwealth invest in the clean energy economy and decarbonize the grid,” said Valessa Souter-Kline, Northeast regional director for SEIA. “For over a year now, the Solar Energy Industries Association has been working with the state legislature on climate legislation that will help to jumpstart Massachusetts’ stalled solar economy. Under the new law, residential solar projects up to 25 kW are eligible for the state’s net-metering program, which is double the size of the previous limit. This will drive demand for larger residential solar and storage projects and help even more homeowners and small businesses realize the full value of their solar energy systems.

“We are also excited to see the legislature codify incentives for pollinator-friendly solar projects and support the Commonwealth’s efforts to more thoughtfully consider grid modernization updates and the transmission planning process. This bill will help to make a serious dent in carbon emissions in Massachusetts, and we commend Speaker Mariano, Senate President Spilka, Chairman Jeff Roy and Chairman Mike Barrett for championing H5060. We also want to thank Governor Baker for signing this bill into law, without his leadership, this wouldn’t be possible,” she continued.

Kelsey is managing editor of Solar Power World and host of the Contractor's Corner podcast.

Does the law specifically differentiate between residential versus non-residential projects, or is it just tied to the 25 kW AC size?

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