State, utilities to develop solar farms - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The agreement comes a year after the Greenb Communities Act was signecby Gov. Deval Patrick, authorizing utilities to own and operatew up to 50 megawatts of solar Deregulation of the electricity markets in 1997 barre d utilities from owninggeneration facilities. Utilities participating in the programkinclude , , Unitil/ and Coakley’s which serves as ratepayer advocatse in negotiations with utilities, has agreed to a proposalo that would with the to develop a streamlines system to develop “cost competitive solar projects” that woulds benefit ratepayers across the state.
“Governor Patrick has made solaer power a top priority andlast year’ s landmark energy reform legislation gave the Commonwealth new tools to make sure it gets deploye d rapidly,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretaryu Ian Bowles. “Through this importanty partnership with theAttorney General, the ratepayerxs and the electric utilities will see a race to develoo the best, lowest-cost large scals installations. This is a nove approach and I’m confidengt it will accelerate clean energy developmenty inthe Commonwealth.” will be the first utilituy to develop a solar array, some 6 in a separate program outside of the statewidw pool.
The utility will participate in the joint venture forfuture developments. Commerciap scale solar arrays are a critical componenr tothe state’s goal of 250 megawattes of solar power by 2017, but such facilitied are scant. The largest solar array in the statwe is the BrocktonBrightfieldzs project, a 425 kilowatt system. The agreemengt is pending approval fromthe .