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The Clean Energy Team wishes you a Happy Holiday season and a prosperous and clean-energy filled New Year!
We'd also like to congratulate the Town of Wayland for completing four solar energy system projects located at the Town's High School, Middle School, Town Building and DPW Building. This project was developed by Ameresco, after the Town's participation in MAPC's regional procurement program.
On December 2, the Town held a dedication for the new solar projects, which comprise of a total of 4,214 PV panels totaling 1,289 kW, and should generate over 1.5 million kWh of renewable electricity each year. The panels are expected to offset roughly 25% of the municipality's electric needs and generate a financial savings of over $100,000/year.
MAPC and the Town of Wayland are also recipients of DOER's Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative (CCERI) grant program, which will enable the Town to add resiliency features that give islanding capabilities to the solar canopy at the Middle School.
If you're interested in learning more about any of MAPC's clean energy or climate programs, please
contact us.
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This summer, An Act to promote energy diversity mandated that Massachusetts source 1600 MW of offshore wind energy by 2027. A partnership was recently announced that will support the development of the first utility-scale offshore wind project in Massachusetts.
Who are the two parties involved in the recently announced partnership?
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Dept. Highlight! MassEnergy Presents MAPC with an Energy Leadership Award
This December, MassEnergy recognized MAPC at their 34th Annual Meeting with an Energy Leadership Award for the Clean Energy Department's work on green municipal aggregation and commitment to local clean energy action. The Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), the Town of Amherst, and the Boston Nature Center were also recipients of Energy Leadership Awards.
Over the last two years, MAPC has promoted the use of municipal aggregation to help build new renewable generation, in addition to achieving competitive prices and price stability. The key to this strategy is including at least 5% more MA Class I renewable energy in the aggregation's default rate than required by state law. The percentage and source were chosen because of evidence showing that such purchases are much more likely than other sources to lead to the development of new renewables in New England.
Thankfully, the strategy is gaining traction! In 2017, Melrose and Dedham will entering their second year of the program with 5% extra MA Class I, and another 11 municipalities are slated to begin programs: Acton, Arlington, Brookline, Cambridge, Gloucester, Hamilton, Lexington, Millis, Somerville, Sudbury and Winchester.
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Gov. Baker Announces $11.4 Million for LED Streetlights; MAPC Selected to Administer
Earlier this month, the
Baker-Polito Administration announced $11.4 million in grant funding opportunities to help cities and towns across Massachusetts convert traditional streetlights to LED technology through the
Department of Energy Resources' (DOER)
Rapid LED Streetlight Conversion Program. DOER has selected MAPC to assist in administering the grant funding to municipalities served by investor-owned utilities. For communities served by a municipal light plants, DOER selected
Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC)
Energy New England (ENE), and four Municipal Light Plants (MLP) to participate.
MAPC expects the program to officially launch early in 2017, at which point MAPC will provide detailed information about how to participate. Over the past few years, MAPC has assisted over 25 communities in retrofitting their streetlights to LEDs - saving cities and town's money and energy.
The Clean Energy Department is excited about this partnership and looks forward to continuing to provide guidance to municipalities throughout the retrofit process.
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MassCEC Offers Solar PV + Storage Assessments for Manufacturers: survey responses due Dec 23
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is offering up to 50 free assessments for manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts as part of its new Solar Plus Storage Program. MassCEC is inviting Massachusetts manufacturers to participate in this brief on-line survey to express their interest in receiving a free assessment, which will evaluate the financial benefits available to manufacturers who are considering installing energy storage systems or solar photovoltaic systems combined with energy storage technology. Survey responses are due on Friday, December 23, 2016. If you have any questions about this opportunity please contact Karen Kao.
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MA DOER Requests Input on Clean Energy Procurement: comments due Dec 28
The
Massachusetts Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) distributed a document, link provided below, on behalf of the EDCs, the
Department of Energy Resources (DOER), and the
Attorney General's Office (AGO). The document solicits and focuses stakeholder comment on key areas of the request for proposals (RFP) for the competitive solicitation of bids to enter into cost-effective long-term contracts for clean energy generation pursuant to Section 83D of Chapter 169 of the Acts of 2008, as amended by Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2016, An Act to Promote Energy Diversity.
All interested stakeholders should submit their responses to the questions as written comments to
marfp83d@gmail.com by
12PM on
Wednesday, December 28, 2016. All submissions will be posted to the EDCs' clean energy procurement website,
macleanenergy.com, currently under construction.
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MA DEP Holds Global Warming Solutions Act Regulations Public Hearings: comments due Feb 24
On December 16,
MA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued
draft regulations pursuant to Section 3(d) of the Global Warming Solutions Act. These regulations address emissions from gas insulated switch gear, the natural gas distribution system, electricity generating facilities, and the transportation sector and state fleet. MA DEP also proposed a clean energy standard to regulate emissions from the retail electricity sellers.
A formal comment period on MassDEP's proposed regulations continues through
February 24, 2017. The public notice with locations and times of public hearings can be found
here. Oral comments may be presented at the public hearings. Written comments may be submitted in the following three ways:
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DOER Green Communities 2017 Competitive Grant Program: apply by Mar 3
The Green Communities 2017 competitive grant application will soon be on COMMBUYS. Stay tuned for the application announcement in early 2017. To help with planning, please make note of the following deadlines. To be eligible, Green Communities must have:
- expended all prior Green Communities designation and competitive grant funds;
- submitted their final grant report and satisfied all outstanding questions no later than 5PM February 17, 2017; and
- submitted their FY 2016 Annual Report and satisfied all outstanding questions no later than 5PM February 17, 2017.
Applications must be submitted by online by 5PM on March 3, 2017.
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This month,
DOER posted a Program Opportunity Notice for the third round of funding as a part of the
Community Clean Energy Resilience Initiative. The Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative is a $40 million program focused on municipal resilience that uses clean energy technology solutions to protect communities from interruptions in energy services due to severe climate events made worse by the effects of climate change.
This round, funding will be made available for project implementation of resiliency capabilities added to clean energy technologies at hospitals for resiliency, specifically the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of eligible technology systems. The funding will only cover the resiliency components (e.g. energy storage, switch gear, transfer switch, load controls, etc.) of the clean energy system, and as such will not cover funding of the generation technology (e.g. combined heat and power (CHP), solar, wind, etc.). Interested parties should apply by
March 17, 2017 - any questions on the application are due by
December 23, 2016 (this Friday). Learn more about how to apply
here.
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The Department of Energy (DOE) launched their newest competition as a part of the SunShot Initiative. The goal of the SunShot Initiative is to make solar more accessible and inclusive for every single American. The Solar in Your Community Challenge was informed by the DOE's work with the National Community Solar Partnership and aims to spur the development of new and innovative financial and business models that serve non-rooftop solar users and low and moderate-income communities.
Offering $5 million in cash prizes and technical assistance over 18 months, the Challenge supports teams across the country to develop projects or programs that expand solar access to underserved groups, while proving that these business models can be widely replicated and adopted by similar groups. Early applications are due January 6, 2017, and all other applications are due March 17, 2017. To learn more about how to apply go here.
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Earlier this month, the
Baker-Polito Administration announced
$12 million investment into the
MOR-EV Program, the Commonwealth's electric vehicle rebate program administered by the
Center for Sustainable Energy on behalf of the
Department of Energy Resources (DOER). Consumers can qualify for rebates ranging from $750-$2,500 on the purchase or lease of more than 25 qualifying new electric vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.
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Metropolitan Area Planning Council | 60 Temple Place | Boston, MA 02111
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