The report also finds that such growth could deliver significant significant winter reliability improvements and broader environmental benefits.
The analysis comes as Massachusetts officials consider legislation and policy changes to manage an escalating energy affordability crisis.
The study compares a future where Massachusetts continues adding new solar and storage capacity as planned through 2030 with a future where no new projects are built after 2025. The results show that staying on the Commonwealth’s clean energy path dramatically reduces energy costs for consumers, lowers exposure to unpredictable and volatile swings in gas prices, and strengthens grid reliability.
Key findings include:
Massachusetts customers would save $313 million on electricity costs in 2030 alone if the state continues planned solar and storage expansion.
Across New England, the regional benefits reach $684 million.
Solar and storage provide 44 percent of their avoided energy-cost benefits during winter months when reliability challenges are greatest.
New solar and storage would avoid 29 billion cubic feet of natural gas, equal to 25 percent of current electric-sector gas use in Massachusetts.
It would also avoid 1.6 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2030 - equivalent to removing approximately 350,000 cars from the road for a year.
“As SEIA’s analysis shows, solar and energy storage are key to lowering energy costs and provide vast economic benefits for all customers” said Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony. “Adding more solar energy and energy storage in Massachusetts will also add needed reliability to our electric grid and is an opportunity to support local clean energy companies and jobs.”
Solar and storage are the fastest and most cost-effective way to add new capacity to the grid. As New England’s peak demand shifts from summer to winter, these resources become even more important. Nearly half of all avoided energy-cost benefits (44 percent) occur between November and March, when the grid is most stressed and gas supply constraints are most severe. In the highest-load winter hours in 2030, solar and storage would serve roughly 11 percent of demand, reducing the need for expensive and vulnerable gas-fired generation.
“As SEIA and Synapse’s analysis demonstrates, solar and energy storage are incredible levers that the Commonwealth can pull to deliver utility bill savings, winter reliability, and climate benefits to the state’s residents” added Representative Mark J. Cusack, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. “To help realise these benefits, we are prioritising legislation this session that will eliminate barriers blocking these cost-competitive resources. We look forward to collaborating with our state government, clean energy industry, and environmental partners to pass meaningful legislation.”
The analysis also finds that continued clean-energy deployment would deliver significant environmental and public-health benefits. New solar and storage in Massachusetts would avoid 1.6 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2030 - equivalent to removing approximately 350,000 cars from the road for a year.
For additional information:
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
Powered Up: Evaluating the Year-Round Benefits of Solar and Storage in Massachusetts (report)
