Baker announces low income solar initiative, MassSolar reacts

Earlier today in Lowell, Governor Baker announced a new initiative aimed at increasing low and middle-income residents’ access to renewable energy and energy efficiency. He has allocated $15 million in funding to support clean energy program for low-income individuals to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. A press release from today’s announcement can be viewed here.

We agree with Governor Baker in that all residents should have the opportunity to directly benefit from clean and efficient energy, like solar. Unfortunately, the administration’s words don’t entirely match its actions. 

While Baker claims to support solar, his administration has proposed legislation to make it all but impossible to develop the kinds of projects that benefit low income communities. His legislation would slash net metering credits and keep unnecessary net metering caps in place, the damage done to low income families access to solar won’t be undone by $15 million in new funding.

If the Baker administration was serious about increasing access to solar, and protecting our most vulnerable populations from high energy prices, he would support legislation that:

• Eliminates net metering caps;
• Retains the existing net metering credit levels (or commissioned a value of solar study to set a fair          compensation level);
• Creates a new, lower cost solar incentive program; and
• Works with low-income advocates to create new programs to expand access to solar and other clean energy technologies. 

That’s not what he’s doing here, so we can only assume today’s announcement amounts to little more than a publicity stunt.