Mass. hearing spotlights permitting, interconnection and incentives to speed solar ahead of federal tax-credit deadline

A Massachusetts Senate committee held a hearing on policies to accelerate solar deployment across the Commonwealth, with witnesses urging faster permitting, revised incentive rules and changes to interconnection practices so projects can qualify for expiring federal tax credits.

The Department of Energy Resources commissioner, Elizabeth Mahoney, told the committee that Massachusetts has expanded solar from roughly 3 megawatts in 2008 to 3.5 gigawatts by the end of last year and that the state’s SMART (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target) program will be a central tool to keep building. "Solar is already the fastest, cheapest way to add electricity to our grid," Mahoney said, urging use of SMART 3’s “evergreen” approach and annual rate-setting to respond to market changes.

Why it matters: Federal rules that affect the investment tax credit (ITC) create urgency to bring projects into construction windows that preserve federal benefits, witnesses said. The hearing focused on concrete steps — automated permitting, remote inspections, flexible interconnection and targeted state incentives — that advocates and vendors say can cut the “soft costs” that now make rooftop and community solar significantly more expensive in the U.S. than in other countries.

Key facts and testimony

- Commissioner Elizabeth Mahoney (Department of Energy Resources) described SMART 3 as an "evergreen incentive program" with a base compensation rate plus…