In the face of federal attacks on the clean energy movement, players in the Massachusetts solar industry are pushing for state reforms to smooth out bumps in the solar installation process. And one particular barrier is weighing heavy on the minds of installers and advocacy groups alike.
“Permitting is the state’s biggest blocker when it comes to residential installation,” said David Bridge, president of Great Sky Solar, a local installer based in Lexington. “Arlington is easily the best town to operate in in the state. The main problems the state has are problems that Arlington has solved.”
Each of Massachusetts’ 351 municipalities require different permits, installers say. Some claim the decentralized system entangles installers in red tape, exacerbating delays, costs and administrative burdens.
On Thursday, advocates urged Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a slew of clean energy bills directed at expanding and improving the state’s solar sector during a meeting held by the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
A bill pushing for the statewide introduction of an online permitting software drew support from an array of industry figures advocating for expedited permit applications.
“This legislation would modernize and streamline residential solar permitting,” said Trish Fields, executive director of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England, during her testimony. “It seeks to make solar easier to deploy, more affordable and more equitable across the commonwealth.”
If passed, the bill, an act to facilitate distributed energy resources in the commonwealth, would implement the Smart Residential Solar Permitting Platform, an online software that issues permits instantly for residential solar photovoltaic systems.
As of July, 125 jurisdictions in Massachusetts still required in-person permitting.
Arlington employs an online system which enhances efficiency, said Bridge. Great Sky Solar completes 20 to 30 projects in the town each year.
“Arlington uses permitting portal OpenGov, which is the easiest permitting portal to navigate through,” said Byron Johnson, a project manager at Great Sky Solar. “Other towns use more challenging permitting portals that make it hard to have an open communication with the administrators and inspectors.”
When applying for a permit in Arlington, the average turnaround from submission to issuance is typically a week, said Johnson. In other jurisdictions, it can sometimes take months.
James Manzer, senior solar designer at regional installer ReVision Energy, said streamlining permitting in the commonwealth would reduce non-hardware expenses, which include labor and administrative costs.
“If you want to decrease the costs of solar, lower the soft costs of permitting,” he said.
Advocates asserted that lightening the bureaucratic load lugged by installers will help mitigate the impact of federal actions aimed at dismantling the clean energy industry.
“Federal rollbacks and declining tax incentives threaten local companies’ clean energy jobs and progress toward the state’s climate goals,” said Fields. “That’s why state leadership is essential.”
The passage of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July cut the lifespan of residential solar tax incentives short, leaving residents across the country scrambling to panel their roofs before the 30 percent tax credit expires on Dec. 31.
Bridge said Great Sky Solar has seen a 250 percent spike in interest since the legislation was passed.
“We’ve seen some concerns increase, with people trying to access the credits before they expire,” said Talia Fox, sustainability manager for the town of Arlington. “It’s something on people’s minds.”
After the credit is slashed, installers expect customer interest to initially wane, before eventually bouncing back.
“The tax credit was nice to have, but it wasn’t necessary to have for the adoption of solar, because unfortunately our electricity costs are so high,” said Bridge.
Eversource, the provider supplying approximately 640,000 Massachusetts residents with energy, has announced customers will face a 13% price increase this winter. The average bill is set to rise by about $41.
An aging grid, influx of power-hungry data centers and increased demand for energy will likely cause electricity costs to continue climbing, according to clean energy advocates.
Installers and activists believe solar, a quickly accessible and readily available energy source, will play a significant role in meeting the skyrocketing demand.
“Renewables are as powerful as they’ve ever been,” said Manzer. “We plan to be here for a long time.”