Announcement from DOER regarding the SREC II program, as well as the future of solar incentives in Massachusetts:

1.  Final Assurance of Qualification Guideline and Small Generator Set-Aside
On January 5, 2016, DOER announced the establishment of the Small Generation Unit set-aside, which was prompted by having allocated Assurances of Qualification or Statements of Qualification for an amount of capacity equal to 60 percent of Solar Carve-Out II Program Capacity Cap.  To implement this change (as well as a few other procedural clarifications), a draft version of the Assurance of Qualification Guideline was posted for public comment, which reserved 120 MW of the capacity remaining under the Program Capacity Cap at that time, for PV projects with a capacity equal to or less than 25 kW DC.

Having reviewed all of the comments received by stakeholders, DOER has determined that the final Small Generation Unit set-aside shall be 120 MW DC. More details can be found in the revised final Assurance of Qualification Guideline.

2.  SREC II Cap Reached for Projects Larger than 25 kW DC
As the capacity reserved under the Small Generation Unit set-aside remains unchanged, the total capacity available under the SREC II Program Capacity Cap for projects larger than 25 kW DC also remains unchanged, at 660.595 MW DC. As of today, DOER has qualified or received applications for over 854 MW DC of capacity, exceeding the cap for  projects over 25kW DC by more than 193 MW DC. At this time, it is not yet clear whether or not all of the facilities that submitted applications will meet the eligibility criteria to qualify under the SREC II program. Assuming they do, a Waiting List will be established pursuant to the rules outlined in the Assurance of Qualification Guideline.

While DOER can confirm that all applications for projects larger than 25 kW DC submitted on or before February 1, 2016, were received before the cap was reached, we cannot guarantee the same for projects submitted after February 1, 2016. As DOER continues to review applications, DOER will queue them according to the procedure outlined in Section 4(B) of the Assurance of Qualification Guideline. Once DOER can confirm that 660.595 MW DC of capacity has been issued Statements or Assurances of Qualification, DOER will follow up with applicants that submitted applications after February 1, 2016, to inform them of where their applications stand in the queue. The Waiting List will be published on DOER’s website.

3. RFQ for Consulting Services
DOER has posted a Request for Quotes (“RFQ”) for consulting services under Statewide Contract PRF62 to help DOER identify the current costs of different types of solar installations in Massachusetts. The consultant(s) will use the cost data collected to help establish the total energy and incentive value necessary for different types of solar projects to move forward and receive a reasonable rate of return under current economic conditions. The consultant will also be tasked with analyzing the total cost to ratepayers of different potential solar incentive policy frameworks. A copy of the QRF will be posted to the Current Status of th SREC II Program page on Monday. The results of this work will be used to inform DOER as it contemplates future program opportunities. More details on this process will be provided as soon as possible.

DOER requests that any questions related to applications, procedures, or the next generation of solar initiatives, be directed to DOER.SREC@state.ma.us.