Meter Readings
SREC eligible facilities must report generation from revenue grade meters to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Production Tracking System (PTS). Facilities with a nameplate capacity greater than 10 kW must report automatically using a MassCEC-approved revenue grade meter online monitoring system, also known as a Data Acquisition System (DAS).
Class-I REC qualified systems must apply to DOER for participation in the program. Additionally, all facilities must use an Independent Verifier (IV) to report their readings directly to NEPOOL. A list of independent verifiers can be found here.
Solar Requirement
Instead of a predetermined increase in the number of SRECs required year over year (as is used in other SREC markets), the DOER utilizes a formula that takes into consideration how much capacity was installed in previous years, credit supplies, and the results of the annual DOER-administered Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA) to determine the next year’s SREC compliance obligations.
The SREC-I ended its SCCA and carve-out in 2024. The SREC-II program will have a carve-out and SCCA in 2026 and 2027, after which the program ends.
SREC and Class-I REC Issuance Schedule
MA SRECs and Class-I RECs are issued once per quarter with a three and a half month delay, based on the following schedule:
| Power Production Period |
Date SRECs Issued |
| Q1 (Jan to Mar) |
July 15th |
| Q2 (Apr to Jun) |
October 15th |
| Q3 (Jul to Sep) |
January 15th |
| Q4 (Oct to Dec) |
April 15th |
Eligibility Start Date
The SREC-II program is closed to new applications.
For Class-I RECs, a system’s eligibility start dates will be its date of interconnection, so long as the certification application is submitted prior to that quarter’s application deadline. Otherwise, eligibility will be based on the application date and its corresponding quarter. System owners should apply for certification around the date of interconnection to ensure they receive Class-I REC eligibility for all generation produced following interconnection.
SACP
The Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) is the penalty price that electricity suppliers must pay per SREC if they fail to file the required number of SRECs by the end of each compliance period. The SACP price decreases over time, as shown in the table below.
The Class-I REC market has an annual ACP rate set by the DOER annually, on January 31st, based upon the previous year’s consumer price index, as shown in the table below.
SREC Useful Life
SRECs unsold by the end of each trading year (June 15th) must be deposited in the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA). If an SREC deposited in the SCCA is not purchased, then it is re-issued and must be sold within three years; however, re-issued SRECs may not be deposited into future Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auctions, effectively stripping these SRECs of SCCA eligibility. The risk of an unsuccessful SCCA sale and the time value of money are two reasons why sellers will sell SRECs below the SCCA price in oversupplied years.
SREC-II Market Sectors and Additional Information
The SREC-II program divides project eligibility into market sectors which determines how many SRECs it receives for each megawatt hour it produces. The market sectors favor smaller (≤25kW) distributed generation systems.
For important information on market sectors and SREC-II, please visit the following MA DOER web pages:
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