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October 15, 2012

Energy Cost Breaks To Savor

Durrenberger

Recent policy developments confirm the commonwealth's commitment to one of the country's most progressive renewable-energy agendas. This agenda presents opportunities not only for energy and environmental firms, but for all Massachusetts businesses: from the mom-and-pop restaurant to the multisite manufacturer. After all, if you own or manage a business in this state, high energy costs take a chunk out of your budget.

The first set of recent policy developments relate to “net metering,” or the ability for your business to generate energy from solar, wind, or hydro, and sell any surplus to your electric company at retail. (Yes, you essentially get to bill your utility for a change!) When your wind turbine is still or your solar panels are dark, you use up your surplus credits before incurring new charges for electricity. Net metering completely changes the economics of renewable energy. For example, solar electric systems for business pay back in four to six years, less than half the time it once took.

A recently signed law doubled the amount of privately owned renewable energy that utilities must connect to the grid and net meter. This is critical to maintaining the fast payback periods for renewable investments, because the previous cap of 3 percent had been reached.

The same law makes the cap irrelevant for smaller businesses, exempting privately owned renewable energy systems of up to 25 kilowatts from the cap, and assuring small business owners (and homeowners) that they can net meter, regardless of how much solar, hydro and wind has been added to the grid.

The law also adds anaerobic digestion to the types of generation that qualify for net metering, and requires public utilities to standardize (read: speed up) their processes for connecting your renewable generation facility to the grid.

Beyond net metering, the law makes more hydroelectric projects eligible for state incentives, and doubles the amount of power electric distribution companies must buy from renewable generators under long-term contracts.

In an effort to jumpstart the solar hot water market, also called “solar thermal," a new state program earmarks $10 million to fund projects using this renewable technology. Businesses including non-profits and municipalities can earn rebates of up to $50,000 for installing systems. Landlords of properties with one to four units qualify for rebates of up to $3,500.

Any business that uses hot water can benefit from solar hot water, but obviously water-intensive businesses like restaurants, health clubs and hospitals stand to benefit the most. If you're unsure if this technology would work for you, the state is offering up to $5,000 for feasibility studies.

With electricity rates among the nation's highest, and heating bills eating up large chunks of operating budgets, it pays to understand the renewable energy opportunities available to businesses in Massachusetts. Take the state's financial incentives, including grants and tax deductions, add protection from rising energy costs, increased property values, and new income if you sell solar electric credits, and you get a compelling equation for considering renewable energy. More directly, if the government offers renewables on a silver platter, it's probably time to try a bite.

Mark Durrenberger is president of solar installation

company New England Clean Energy, in Hudson

(www.newenglandcleanenergy.com).

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