Happy Tuesday readers! This week we are back to our home state of Massachusetts to report on National Grid and why its handling of the SMART program is under scrutiny. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has opened an audit to determine whether the company has competently managed the roll out of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program. Specifically, National Grid is seeking to delay the deployment of up to 1GW worth of solar power projects, many of which have already been approved and completed construction. The DPU is seeking to better understand the reasons for this delay in their audit.

What this means for the SMART program in Massachusetts

Essentially, this translates to a buildup of unfulfilled solar demand in the state’s National Grid territory. Representatives from National Grid say that they are surprised by how quickly the new solar developments reached saturation, yet from Commercial Solar Guy’s point of view, this should hardly be surprising. National Grid’s Massachusetts territory takes up a large part of the state, and if the utility company is unable to manage the rapid development of solar projects, it could become an obstacle for the success of the SMART program.

So, it is clear why DPU is seeking to better understand National Grid’s management practices. We can only hope that National Grid will get back on track, and unclog the bottleneck soon. Read the full article on the DPU’s audit of National Grid here. And as always, if you have any questions about the SMART program in Massachusetts, or other content you read here, contact the Commercial Solar Guy.

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