Honestly between equipment costs and labor (shortage of skilled tradesmen) both going up, 2x is pretty close to what I've seen in other areas of the building/construction industry.

In my view Mass Save is only contributing indirectly by increasing demand. I doubt installers are just adding the rebate since competition should keep that in check. Otherwise you're talking systemic market failure or a cartel among installers. The latter seems extremely unlikely, though the former may be possible. I honestly don't know if there are barriers to competition preventing new firms from starting/moving into state, or existing firms expanding.

Haha no, I just remember when he would call the office he’d say, “This is himself”. Also his license plate was just “1”, which I thought was pretty cool.

Haha no, I just remember when he would call the office he’d say, “This is himself”. Also his license plate was just “1”, which I thought was pretty cool.

Haha no, I just remember when he would call the office he’d say, “This is himself”. Also his license plate was just “1”, which I thought was pretty cool.

Oh man, I interned for him like 20 years ago.

My wife and I were just talking about this. I feel like I never see them on the south shore. Growing up in western mass they were everywhere in the summers.

I have family who work for the Elizabeth Freeman Center, please message me if you need any help getting in contact with them or any other orgs

https://elizabethfreemancenter.org/

Completely agreed, onsite C&I is a huge pain. On top of that it's all custom agreements and PPAs etc., all for say 500kW. My "better to co-locate with load" has outed me an electrical engineer, not PF/BD.

I’ve designed several of these. The plowing and maintenance cost impacts are pretty small compared to the lease rates and energy sales/savings. On the one hand, yes it can reduce the amount of water and snow, making it to the pavement. But on the other hand, you’re limited buy some of the additional columns in the parking lots. Height can be a restriction, but they’re generally put at about 14 feet leading edge for fire access, as well as plowing access.

There’s also a huge range in the water and snow management strategies. You can use ones that have a deck or gasketing solution and are V-shaped to collect all water and snow and then funnel these via gutters and downspouts into an existing drainage system. You can also do some or none of those things.

One benefit that is universal is the shade when it’s sunny, especially in the summer. That’s a nice perk.

But at the end of the day, it’s really the cost to build it, the lease payment to the owner, and the energy savings for the offtakeer that govern the economics. And you need to build a giant steel superstructure with a 15 foot deep caisson foundations which makes these significantly more expensive than rooftops or ground mounts.

Agreed, always good to co-locate with load but not always feasible. Carports are also MUCH more expensive than ground mounts.

I’d recommend #2 for electric. I had a coworker go off grid and then he reconnected later because he wanted to sell power back and help support the grid when needed. Plus it helps reduce your risk.

Yes the DPU. And yes they are utility-friendly.

Yeah “the city” was NYC to us. We got Albany TV before satellite hence the heavy NY influence.

I also grew up in Berkshire County, and I’m with Denise on this one.

Only the Shire is definitely Western MA to us. Honorable mention to some parts of Hampden/Hampshire/Franklin. Springfield-Quabbin = Central. Worcester = Outer Suburb of Boston