December 2015

A Lump of Coal - Solar Capped in Unitil Territory

December 28, 2015

The Massachusetts legislature ended the year with a flurry of last minute activity – but ended up taking no action to lift the net metering caps - leaving over 132 MW of solar projects on hold. To put that number into context – that is roughly half of all the solar projects installed in the Commonwealth during the entire year of 2014.

Congress extends federal tax credit for solar

December 21, 2015

Christmas came early for the solar industry on Friday when Congress voted to extend the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC).  The ITC is a 30 percent tax credit for solar systems on residential (under Section 25D) and commercial (under Section 48) properties.

California affirms retail net metering fair payment for solar

December 18, 2015

The California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") released a Proposed Decision on Tuesday, which outlines a set of reforms for net metering.  Critically, the Decision, which is the result of a thorough Commission-led stakeholder process, affirms that net metering with full retail credit is the fair and balanced path forward for California energy consumers.

Massachusetts Solar Loan Program Now Open

December 17, 2015

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) are today announced the launch of the long-awaited Mass Solar Loan program.

Thoughts from Paris

December 13, 2015

The historic climate agreement reached at the Paris summit Saturday commits virtually every nation to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

“This agreement, your agreement, is not an end in itself,” French President Francois Hollande said at the closing session of the summit. “It is only the beginning.”

“This didn’t save the planet,” Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org, said of the agreement. “But it may have saved the chance of saving the planet.”