Action alert! Sierra Club of Massachusetts has provided a timely update on the roadblocks that are impeding the expansion of solar energy across the state. As federal tax credits are being pulled, legislators need to hear from citizens about priority areas like “the built and disturbed environment like rooftops and brownfield.”
From the Sierra Club’s October 12th press release:
“Right now, people and communities going solar face seemingly small roadblocks along the way. These challenges pile up and result in excessive costs and stymied projects: for example, solar on only half a roof, a cancelled project on a school, or solar on one condo building instead of two.
Two bills in the legislature (H.3520 / S.2269, An Act facilitating distributed energy resources in the Commonwealth – Fact sheet, and H.3559 / S.2296 An Act to encourage solar development on built and disturbed land– Fact sheet), would reduce these barriers through a number of changes like:
- Lowering costs for municipal and government buildings by allowing more to sell electricity back to the grid
- Extending a sales tax exemption for solar and storage equipment
- Speeding up the permitting process for small rooftop installations in medium and large cities and towns
- Allowing all solar in the built and disturbed environment to sell electricity back to the grid at full cost
The state house is accepting comments on these bills through October 16th.
Send an urgent, personalized message to your elected representative.