Massachusetts issued emergency revisions to its main solar support program last month to help an industry struggling with the coronavirus lockdown. But developers say the changes will have opposite their intended effect, causing the cancellation of hundreds of megawatts of distributed solar projects.
Solar companies had sought an increase to the size of the popular Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program, or SMART, for almost as long as the program has existed. And when the state’s Department of Energy Resources (DOER) expanded the program in April, the industry initially offered halting praise — Vote Solar recognized the changes as “incremental improvements,” and the Solar Energy Industries Association said they would help “stabilize” the industry in a trying time.
