Five years after it was first proposed, Massachusetts’ Cape Light Compact (CLC) is celebrating the long-awaited and hard-won regulatory approval of a first-in-the-nation energy storage pilot program for low-income customers. But in a strange twist, the Dept. of Public Utilities simultaneously approved the pilot offering, while banning any similar proposals for the near future.
The Cape & Vineyard Electrification Offering (CVEO) sets a new precedent for utilities across Massachusetts by offering free batteries, solar PV, and heat pumps to income-eligible customers. And as the only customer battery equity offering in Massachusetts, the CVEO demonstrates that state energy efficiency budgets can be used to cost-effectively provide free battery storage to low-income customers.
