Situation goes from bad to worse as net metering cap stalls private projects in National Grid territory

Update: The number of solar projects on hold has doubled in the last 24 hours. As of 4:00PM on April 1st, there are now 22.7 MW of solar projects on hold. This is not a joke. 

Skies continued to darken for the solar industry and solar projects in Massachusetts as the net metering cap for private projects was hit in National Grid today (see table below).  Hitting the cap means that no new private solar projects that are over 10 kW (single phase) or 25 kW (three phase) will be eligible for net metering.  Development of community shared, low income and many other types of solar projects will grind to a halt in National Grid territory unless the legislature acts to raise net metering caps.

The net metering cap issue received some attention in yesterday's online edition of the Boston Globe.  The article concluded with a quote from a National Grid spokesperson that suggested raising net metering caps would increase electricity prices for its customers.  While the programs supporting solar, including net metering, aren't free, it's been shown time and time again, that solar saves ratepayers money and its benefits are greater than the costs.  For more on that, take a look at a couple of our recent blog posts, here and here.

If you need a primer on net metering and how it works in Massachusetts, read this.

TAKE ACTION: Tweet this post to your legislators, Senate President Rosenberg and Speaker De Leo and asking them to raise net metering caps.  Sample tweet below:

@JamieEldridgeMA: MA is now putting private and public net metering projects on a waitlist for @NationalGridUS #RaiseTheCaps #solarisworking