Luther College’s wind turbine generates power in Decorah, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Alliant Energy is building a $2.5 million, 2.5 megawatt battery system that will store energy generated by wind turbines and solar arrays in the area. The system consists of 360 lithium ion batteries each weighing 114 pounds. The system should be done with its conditioning and commissioning processes and go online sometime in March. The system will store power generated during off peak hours during the middle of the day by homeowners’ wind turbines and solar arrays, while homeowners are away from their houses, and return it to the grid when residents are back at their homes in the evening. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate reaffirmed its commitment today to addressing the climate crisis facing our Commonwealth by passing legislation that overhauls our state’s climate laws, drives down greenhouse gas emissions, creates clean energy jobs, and protects environmental justice communities.
The passage of An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy (S.9), comes after a joint commitment from Senate President Karen E. Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano, as well as last session’s House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, Senator Michael Barrett and Representative Thomas Golden, to refile the legislation following a gubernatorial veto last session.
My Turn: Memo to policymakers: Let solar compete
Published: 2/2/2021 6:30:08 AM
I was recently called up before a New Hampshire town zoning board to seek a variance for a solar project my company installed for a local family farm. Apparently someone in town had driven by while we were constructing the 140-panel array and complained to town officials. Although we had been granted the required zoning permits many months ago, we were told to seek a variance on the grounds that solar panels in a field might now be considered a “building,” with all the attending requirements.
Thousands of dollars in legal fees and construction delays later, we were grateful to receive a unanimous vote of approval from the zoning board. A few weeks later, after spending thousands more dollars in grid upgrades required by the utility, the project was complete – at a loss.
Massachusetts legislature passes climate policy bill
Community Content
Dean of the Massachusetts Senate and Founding Chair of Senate’s Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change Marc R. Pacheco, D-Taunton, announced that the Massachusetts legislature passed an act creating a next-generation roadmap for Massachusetts climate policy (S. 9) Jan. 28.
Pacheco cosponsored the bill. The legislation, a refile of an identical version which passed the House and Senate last session but was pocket vetoed by Gov. Baker, sets a net-zero target for carbon emissions by 2050 and interim emissions limits for 2030 and 2040, a baseline provision that Pacheco authored in the original version of the legislation. It also provides the executive branch with a number of tools to achieve the net-zero by 2050 limit.
Share:
Expanding its growing portfolio, Standard Solar, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in the development, funding, ownership and operation of commercial and community solar assets, today announced the financing and operation of 17 community solar projects in Minnesota and Massachusetts totaling 24.6 megawatts (MW). Tax equity financing for these projects was secured in a partnership with Crestmark, a division of MetaBank®, N.A.
Massachusetts and Minnesota account for about half of cumulative capacity of community solar throughout the U.S. according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Sixteen of the community solar projects are in Minnesota and all have achieved operation. The projects will generate clean energy on behalf of a mix of commercial and residential customers that want to support a cleaner environment. Minnesota s community solar program is one of the strongest in the country providing a comprehensive approach that makes developing community solar projec