A solar energy developer will pay $330,000 over allegations it failed to honor agreements with four Central Massachusetts towns and nonprofits to sell them net metering credits, Attorney General Maura Healey announced yesterday.
“We allege this solar energy company failed to honor agreements with local towns and nonprofits that would have provided significant energy savings, which is especially important as communities face rising electricity prices,” Healey said in a statement. “This settlement will provide restitution and hold this developer responsible for any unfair practices.”
The assurance of discontinuance, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, resolves allegations that Soltas Energy Corp. violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and False Claims Act in connection with its successful bid to sell another municipality net metering credits it had already allocated to the towns of Petersham and Warwick, the Athol YMCA and Athol Memorial Hospital, and its resulting decision to breach its pre-existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with those towns and nonprofits. The towns and nonprofits lost thousands of dollars in energy savings due Soltas’ actions, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Under the terms of today’s settlement, Soltas will pay $330,000, including damages and restitution arising from lost energy savings, in the amounts of $175,000 to Athol Memorial Hospital, $38,000 to the Athol YMCA, $40,000 to Petersham, $22,000 to Warwick and $55,000 to the commonwealth for its alleged violations of the state’s False Claims and Consumer Protection Acts.
According to the settlement, the power purchase agreements PPAs would have required Soltas to allocate to the towns and nonprofits net metering credits for solar energy generated at Adams Farm, its Athol-based solar facility, in return for a fixed price per kWh. Soltas allegedly breached its PPAs with the towns and nonprofits when it later sold the same credits to another municipality through the public bidding process.
Net metering allows customers to offset their electric bill using credits obtained by generating solar power, also known as net metering credits. Under these specific PPAs, the towns and entities agreed to buy net metering credits generated at Soltas’ Athol-based solar facility at a locked-in rate.
