Uxbridge, MA According to Clean Energy Collective (CEC), one of the nation’s leading community solar providers, its three community solar projects in Uxbridge are nearly sold out, representing what could be the last shared solar capacity available to Massachusetts residential and commercial customers in National Grid territory until a resolution is reached on the solar energy bill stalled in the state legislature.
The solar PV facilities, fully constructed and awaiting interconnection by National Grid, will generate a combined 3 megawatts (MWdc) of capacity, enough to serve 400 to 500 residential and commercial customers. The community shared arrays are projected to produce more than 63 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy over their lifespan and generate over $2 million in bill savings for participants.
Only about 10% of the total project capacity remains available for subscription by customers. True to the spirit of community solar, these projects will serve a combination of families and local businesses. Attleboro Public Schools is a major participant in the projects, and the school district will immediately see significant cost savings on its utility bills once these projects are interconnected. The projects will also provide over $1.1 million in local tax revenue to the town.
“Uxbridge is proud to host a number of community shared solar projects. We have seen in practice the benefits these projects bring to our town in terms of tax revenue and jobs, and are pleased to facilitate the opportunity for our residents and businesses to affordably support clean energy,” said David Genereux, Uxbridge town manager. “With several more solar projects currently in the development stages in Uxbridge, we hope to see our representatives in the State House act soon to allow those projects to move forward.”
Since the net metering cap has been reached in National Grid territory, no additional community solar projects can be developed until the legislature addresses the caps. This effectively brings to a halt any new solar development to serve residential and business customers that can’t accommodate or fund a full solar system on-site.
The impact of legislative inaction on solar is not insignificant. CEC estimates that its projects stalled in the development pipeline for National Grid represent $170 million in lost investment for the state, $15 million in grid upgrades and fees not paid to utilities to update their distribution system, and nearly $1.3 million in property taxes and permit fees not paid to local jurisdictions in 2016 alone, with over $25 million of tax revenue lost over the life of the systems. Without legislative action, 4,000 families and 100 businesses will lose the opportunity to lower their energy bills by participating in these community solar projects, representing millions of dollars in foregone customer bill savings.
“Massachusetts has made it clear that equal access to affordable local energy is a priority, and community solar delivers that option to literally anyone that receives an electric bill,” said Tom Sweeney, CEC’s chief strategic markets officer. “We are certainly hopeful to make this opportunity available to many more people long after the Uxbridge projects are sold out.”
For more information about participating in the Uxbridge Community Solar program, visit www.masscommunitysolar.com.
A solar tech start-up in 2009, CEC has grown to become the world’s leading developer of Roofless Community Solar solutions. CEC pioneered the model of delivering clean power-generation through medium-scale solar PV facilities accessible to all utility customers.
Since establishing the first community-owned solar array in the country in 2010 near El Jebel, Colorado, CEC has built or has under development more than 100 Roofless Community Solar projects with 25 utility partners across 11 states, serving thousands of customers, and representing more than 160 MW of community solar capacity.