General Frequently Asked Questions on Clean Energy Choice
Is My Community Eligible for MTC Matching Grants?
All communities that already pay a small annual fee into the Renewable Energy Trust are eligible. Because Municipal Light Plant (MLP) communities do not pay into the Trust, the Clean Energy Choice program does not provide matching grants to these MLP communities. However, when a resident of an MLP makes a purchase of any Clean Energy Choice-qualified offering, MTC will provide a matching grant for low-income projects.
How Is the Matching Amount Determined?
The MTC matching contributions to communities are proportional to the percentage of new renewable energy certificates purchased. The greater the amount of new renewables purchased, the greater the community match will be. This is because purchases of new renewable energy certificates are more likely to expand the total supply of renewable energy than are purchases from older facilities. The percentage of new renewable energy certificates in a clean electricity offering is an important indicator of whether that choice will lead to public benefits.
What Is Required for a
City or Town To Earn a Bonus Grant?
Clean Energy Choice offers two bonus plans,
click here.
How Much Will Each Community Receive?
If, for example, a consumer pays $12 per month for renewable electricity and MTC matches 50%, MTC will provide $6 per month—$72 per year—to that consumer's community and an additional $6 per month for low-income projects. As you can see below, this can quickly add up:
If there are 10 participants each of whose purchases is matched $6 monthly, MTC will provide $720 each year to the community.
If there are 25 participants, MTC will provide $1,800.
If there are 100 participants, MTC will provide $7,200.
If there are 300 participants, MTC will provide $21,600.
How Will the Matching Funds Be Distributed?
Every three months, MTC posts the amount of matching funds earned by each city or town. Click here to see how much your community has earned. The local community can either decide to use the funding immediately or save it until more money has accumulated in the community's account with MTC. Up to $1.25 million will be distributed to communities each year.
To receive funds, a duly authorized representative of the municipality (i.e. the Mayor or Selectman) must provide MTC with a grant applicataion describing what projects the grants will support. Communities can choose to pool their funds with their neighbors for joint projects. For example, towns in a regional school district can combine their matching funds in order to receive a kit or solar panels for the regional high school.
How Can My Town or City Leverage MTC Matching Grants With Other MTC Programs?
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has several other programs for which municipalities can qualify. A municipality can apply a community matching grant to reduce the cost of one of those programs or, in effect, increase the size of a grant from one of those programs. For example, several communities are now using their Clean Energy Choice matching funds in conjunction with rebates from MTC’s Commonwealth Solar program to make installing solar PV projects more affordable. For an explanation of how these two programs can be used together, go to Clean Energy Choice and Commonwealth Solar.
What Renewable Energy Projects Can Be Paid for with Community Grants?
Each community can use its matching funding for items related to renewable energy. A community can, over time, fund multiple items. Click here to see how communities are using the matching funds.
Examples of items that can be purchased:
- Renewable Electricity Generating Equipment
Solar-powered trash compactor. Designed to replace standard outdoor trash receptacles, a solar trash compactor like the BigBelly® automatically compacts up to 200 gallons of trash into one neat bag for easy disposal. Cordless, self-charging, and portable, the BigBelly® cuts collection trips by 75-90%, preventing unsightly and costly bin overflow, reducing vehicle emissions, and enhancing public enjoyment of cities, parks and beaches. Made in Massachusetts by BigBelly Solar, it costs approximately $4,000.
A solar photovoltaic system for a municipal building or school. Your community could generate some of its own electricity and reduce the municipality's electricity bills. The community can select the equipment and installer it will use. Costs vary by system size, but would be at least $12,000. To learn more about solar electricity, click here. To learn about how you can use matching grants with the MTC Commonwealth Solar Initiative.
Portable solar panel with battery for powering appliances, lights, or other equipment outside. Example: solar HarvesterTM ($2,000).
Solar lighting for a municipal building, bus shelter, or park. The grant size would vary depending upon how much lighting is required, but could start as low as $100. Example: So-LedTM Bus Shelter Security Lighting ($3,000-$5,000).
Data acquisition equipment for a solar photovoltaic system. This allows students and/or community members to see information about a system displayed on a computer in the building or on a website. They can observe how much electricity has been produced and how production varies with the weather, time of day, and season of the year. Costs range from $2,500 to $10,000.
- Educational Materials and Activities
Clean energy books, publications, and educational materials for a community's schools or for a town/city library. The community can select from among more than 100 different publications and educational materials described in MTC's Guide to Teaching Renewable Energy. Costs start as low as $100.
Bus rental so that students can visit a renewable energy site. MTC will provide funding to reimburse bus costs for any clean energy field trip that the community chooses to undertake.
- Building Analysis and Improvements
An energy modeling study analyzing the potential costs and economic benefits of incorporating various energy technologies and designs into an upcoming municipal green building project. Such a study could ultimately save the community tens of thousands of dollars in ongoing energy and building operating costs. MTC will provide grants of between $5,000 and $15,000 depending upon the scope of the building project. Communities will be able to select an energy modeling contractor from a pre-approved list of contractors.