Last week, on the final day of the outgoing Baker Administration, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) released a new proposal for a regional clean energy market. If implemented, this market would be a new way for states, utilities, and other energy customers to meet their clean energy goals, encourage clean energy development, and create competition and transparency in clean energy procurement.
The proposal incorporates several aspects of existing wholesale electricity markets as well as existing state clean energy certificate programs. Here are the key elements:
Governance—The market would be run by a newly-created non-profit entity, to be overseen by a board of directors representing the six New England states. There would be substantial coordination with the regional wholesale electricity market (the Independent System Operator of New England, or ISO-NE)…