Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. the Department of Public Utilities holds a technical session in DPU 25-117, its investigation into expanding access to Massachusetts net crediting. The department asked the solar developer community to work together and present information at the session. Some commercial proposals already price the outcome as if it were decided. It is not.
This post is not a forecast. It is a note on how to write a commercial proposal while a docket like this is open, so the customer signs on numbers that will still be true next spring.
What Massachusetts net crediting means and why it is in front of the DPU
Net crediting is the practice of taking net metering credits earned at one account and allocating them to other accounts. In Massachusetts that allocation is done through the utility's Schedule Z form. A town, a school district, or a business with several meters often depends on it, because the roof with the array is rarely the meter with the biggest bill.
The 2024 Climate Act directs the DPU to investigate expanding access to net crediting for net metering. The department opened DPU 25-117 on October 7, 2025. It held a hybrid technical conference on February 6, 2026 and scheduled a technical session for October 27, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
A separate docket, DPU 25-200, is about the value of net metering credits. Its technical conference was October 15, 2026. Do not mix the two up on a proposal. One is about who can receive credits. The other is about what a credit is worth.
The legislature is also in the room
The energy affordability bill went to a conference committee this summer. The House and Senate versions differ on net metering for municipalities. The Senate version would remove the 10 MW cap on solar generation for which a city or town may obtain net metering credits. The House version would raise it to 20 MW. As of the most recent public reporting we found, the conference had not produced a final bill.
So a municipal customer could see one change from the DPU, another from the legislature, or neither this year. A proposal should not depend on any of them.
How to write the commercial proposal now
Athol Energy builds solar sales proposals and financial models for installers and developers. We do not advise on tax or legal positions. We do build proposals that separate what is known from what is pending, so a sales rep can defend every number on the page.
- Base case on current rules. Price the system using the net metering and allocation rules in effect on the proposal date.
- Name every recipient account. List the host account and each Schedule Z recipient with its share. A proposal that says "other buildings" cannot be checked.
- Scenarios on their own page. If a customer wants to see an expanded net crediting case, put it on a separate page labeled as a scenario that depends on DPU 25-117 or legislation.
- Date the assumptions. One line on page one: "Rules in effect on October 26, 2026. Excludes pending DPU 25-117, DPU 25-200, and legislative changes."
- Size matches the application. The AC size in the proposal is the AC size on the interconnection application.
The solar financial analysis proposal post covers the cash-flow side. The point here is narrower. A proposal is a promise. Keep the promise to the rules you can cite.
Watch the cost side too
Credits are only half the payback. The other half is what it costs to connect. In parts of Massachusetts that includes a share of grid upgrades. Our post on Massachusetts capital investment projects lists the areas where planned upgrades and cost sharing apply. The common system modification fee post covers the fee side. A proposal that is careful about credits and vague about interconnection cost is still a vague proposal.
Questions about net crediting in Massachusetts
What is DPU 25-117?
It is the DPU's investigation into expanding access to net crediting for net metering, required by the 2024 Climate Act. The docket opened October 7, 2025.
When is the DPU 25-117 technical session?
October 27, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. An earlier hybrid technical conference in the docket was held February 6, 2026.
Have the net crediting rules changed yet?
As of this post, the docket is still at the investigation stage. Price proposals on the rules in effect and label anything else as a scenario.
If your Massachusetts commercial proposals mix current rules and hoped-for rules on one page, send us the next one. Massachusetts solar design and proposals from Athol Energy keep the base case clean. Contact us.