On August 11, 2022, Governor Baker signed into law Chapter 179 of the Acts of 2022, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind (the “Clean Energy Act” or the “Act”). The Clean Energy Act builds upon the 2021 climate act, which set forth the Commonwealth’s climate goals including net zero emissions by 2050. One significant feature of the Act is its prioritization of agrivoltaic projects as an integral part of the Commonwealth’s renewable energy and climate change policy. Agrivoltaic projects, often referred to as “dual use” projects, involve installing elevated solar panels on farmland to enable the land under and around the panels to be farmed. The Act clarifies that an agrivoltaic project is to be treated as an agricultural use, meaning that the land can continue to be classified as agricultural land for property tax purposes and that the project is exempt from special permit requirements. The Act also creates a new commission to identify obstacles to agrivoltaic projects and strategies to overcome those obstacles.
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