New Solar Programs to Provide $300 Million a Year in Savings and Benefits for Massachusetts

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 

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 26^th 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.