Press Release: 6/23/2025
New Solar Programs to Provide $300 Million a Year in Savings and Benefits for Massachusetts
Healey-Driscoll Administration’s new solar policies will jumpstart solar growth, get charges off bills, and lower wholesale electricity costs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
6/20/2025
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Karissa Hand, Press Secretary
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Call Karissa Hand, Press Secretary at 617-725-4025
BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration is advancing a bold series of solar programs to lower costs and bring more energy into Massachusetts. This effort includes new regulations to accelerate solar development while also removing or significantly reducing solar-related charges on customer electricity bills.
“Solar is one of the fastest and cheapest forms of energy we can bring into Massachusetts right now,” said Governor Maura Healey. “ I want us moving as fast as states like Florida and Texas on this because it will increase reliability and bring down the cost of electricity. Our administration is moving quickly to reduce costs – that's why we released our Energy Affordability Agenda and filed legislation to get charges off bills and support the growth of new energy.”
“Massachusetts energy jobs are on the line as we work to get more solar into Massachusetts,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Thousands of Massachusetts workers support our energy infrastructure and help us keep the lights on. Getting more solar into the state will help us strengthen our local workforce and keep our investments circulating in our state, rather than elsewhere.”
“Solar plays a critical role in the reliability of our energy grid, and we need to double down on solar programs that are working,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “On the hottest days of the year, it’s solar that helps keep the lights on and costs down. That’s because Massachusetts has prioritized getting solar on roofs and lowering customer bills. As the federal government stalls more energy projects than it advances, our administration is looking for ways to get more energy into our state and protect our grid from reckless energy policies.”
“While Massachusetts historically led in solar growth, we’re starting to fall behind other states,” said Energy Resources Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony. “As Texas and Florida take leadership positions in deploying new solar capacity, Massachusetts is moving quickly to modernize the SMART program and get solar built here.”
New SMART Regulations
The SMART regulations will create a sustainable incentive program that advances solar energy in Massachusetts while being able to quickly respond to changing market conditions. The regulations simplify the solar incentive program by providing a flat incentive rate for residential customers and enhanced incentive offerings for low-income households. The regulations implement strong consumer protection provisions to ensure best practices by solar installers resulting in customers receiving fair contracts and meaningful savings.
The program also takes an innovative approach to land use policy by establishing a mitigation fund that will collect dollars from large solar installations and use those funds to invest in conservation, biodiversity, and other programs targeted at protecting Massachusetts’ natural landscapes to offset the impacts of solar infrastructure. Additionally, the program provides added incentives for canopy projects and those installed on landfills and brownfields prioritizing projects in the built environment.
This SMART program deploys a mechanism to respond to market change annually through robust economic analysis. This will allow DOER to adjust certain program components in response to project development, economic drivers, and overall program costs.
Getting Charges Off Bills
The Healey-Driscoll Administration is boosting solar growth while lowering overall costs. Governor Healey’s Energy Affordability Agenda will help reduce charges on customer bills, which will be further lowered by the phase out of the Solar Carve Out I and Solar Carve Out II Programs. Ratepayers may see as much as $15-20 of costs eliminated from their bills each month by 2027 as a result of these programs coming to a close, which amounts to nearly $1.5 billion in total savings over the next 5 years. Her Energy Affordability, Independence, and Innovation Act will also reduce the value of net metering credits for new large net metering facilities will lead to a lower net metering surcharge, saving customers an estimated $380 million over 10 years. Currently, Massachusetts has the highest net metering compensation rates for large, standalone facilities in the country.
At the same time, the legislation will require solar projects participating in net metering to utilize the SMART program, which implements cost controls to ensure projects receive a tailored incentive to be economic, but nothing further. This will help drive down overall ratepayer costs under the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.
Massachusetts Needs More Power from Solar
Solar deployment to date has transformed the way that the New England electric grid operates, helping to keep the lights on and lowering prices. With solar, we do not need to build as much transmission and distribution infrastructure, saving hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars that ratepayers would otherwise pay to maintain reliability. During the summer, solar helps reduce peak demand and lower energy costs and grid investment needs. During the winter, solar production helps avoid the use of scarce fossil fuel resources by other electric generators, improving reliability and lowering energy prices for all customers. And during the spring and fall, solar can provide a significant portion of the region’s energy needs and reduce the wholesale costs of energy for everyone. For example, during the afternoon of April 20, 2025, over 55% of the electricity demand on the New England electric grid was met by distributed solar facilities. Demand on the electric grid that afternoon reached an all-time low.
Massachusetts has fallen behind other states – like Florida and Louisiana – in solar deployment and 374 MW of pending projects are stuck. For years, Massachusetts ranked in the top 5 states for solar installations but fell to 26th in the number of megawatts of solar installed in 2024. Interconnection and permitting challenges have played a large role in this decline, however, inadequate compensation frameworks and uncertainty around revenue streams have also contributed to the slowdowns. To address these challenges, the Healey-Driscoll Administration brokered a historic compromise to speed up siting and permitting timelines and proposed reforms to the interconnection process in the Energy Affordability, Independence, and Innovation Act. Further reforms to the SMART program will unlock languishing projects and create more solar jobs. While Massachusetts has seen increases in solar jobs each of the last three years, there are still 10% less solar jobs than there were in 2018. The reforms to the SMART Program will help create new jobs and restore employment levels to pre-pandemic levels.
Statements of Support
Valessa Souter-Kline, Northeast Regional Director at Solar Energy Industries Association:
“With the future of federal clean energy policy up in the air, Massachusetts must lead on establishing energy policies to lower costs for customers and meet fast-rising energy demand — and the release of SMART 3.0 is an important step in that process. Solar and storage are the fastest and most cost-effective ways to add energy to the grid. Now is the moment to leverage federal policies under threat to bring affordable solar and storage online. We look forward to working with the Commonwealth's leaders to ensure that SMART 3.0 maximizes the benefits that solar and storage provide: good jobs, a reliable grid, and lower bills."
Nick d’Arbeloff, President of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE):
“On behalf of our members, SEBANE is thrilled to see SMART 3.0 announced and filed as emergency regulations. With solar losing ground in Washington and neighboring states, we are very grateful for Governor Healey’s leadership in acknowledging the role that solar plays in keeping rates stable, enhancing grid resilience, and reducing emissions—and for her willingness to take bold action. We expect this new program to greatly accelerate solar development and deployment across the Commonwealth.”
Kate Daniel, Northeast Regional Director at the Coalition for Community Solar Access:
"We are pleased to see the release of long-awaited updates to the SMART program, especially as the urgency to deploy solar is higher than ever. With cuts to federal tax credits looming, the industry appreciates the Healey Administration's recognition that these improvements are needed now to advance cost-effective community solar. We look forward to continuing our work with the Administration as we strive to achieve greater energy bill savings for the Massachusetts households who need them most."
Emily Jones, Deputy Director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Massachusetts:
“Increasing access to solar for affordable housing is one of LISC Massachusetts’s top priorities because when owners have lower operating costs, they can invest those savings in better buildings and richer services. We applaud the Healey-Driscoll Administration for revitalizing the SMART incentives, which will spark many megawatts of new solar systems across the Commonwealth, driving both economic opportunity and energy affordability.”
Emily Haber, President & CEO, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations:
"The SMART 3 Program is a win for community development in Massachusetts. It enables CDCs to grow local solar projects that create jobs, reduce energy costs, and build economic self-reliance. MACDC supports this effort as a vital step toward cleaner, more affordable energy for all neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.”
Ben Underwood, Co-CEO and Cofounder of Resonant Energy:
"In light of the federal government's targeted attack on the solar industry, which is putting enormous pressure on solar companies in Massachusetts and the 10,000 people we employ, it's deeply encouraging to see the DOER / Governor stepping up to defend our work and support the critical energy cost savings that solar projects create for affordable housing providers."
Steve Long, Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts:
“The Nature Conservancy is pleased to express our support for the tangible enhancements to the MA Department of Energy Resources’ SMART Program. The program revisions, which included a through public engagement process, apply a science-based approach to efficiently, rapidly, and equitably accelerate solar energy development, while prioritizing solar capacity in the built environment and safeguarding the values and benefits our natural world provides. These benefits include biodiversity, clean air and water, our health and well-being, and the ability of our forests to absorb carbon emissions.”
Nick Paleologos, Executive Director of the Berkshire Theatre Group:
“The SMART program is a game changer. We couldn’t have managed to get solar panels for our mission driven nonprofit without help from the state energy conservation initiatives like this one. For Berkshire Theatre Group, we’ve lowered both our monthly utility costs as well as our carbon footprint. A win-win at a time when the long term sustainability of regional theatres like ours is a continuing challenge.”
Tina Bennett, Chief Strategy Office, PowerOptions
On behalf of our more than 500 members, PowerOptions applauds the Department of Energy Resources for advancing a thoughtful and responsive update to the SMART program. These changes will empower our nonprofit and public-sector members to maintain their strong momentum in solar development—critical to achieving the Commonwealth’s decarbonization goals. As mission-driven organizations, our members are eager to lead on climate action, but they need the financials to align. Based on our initial review, SMART 3.0 represents a meaningful step forward in supporting solar deployment and addressing energy affordability across Massachusetts.