Report finds small-scale solar has saved New Englanders more than $1.1 billion over six years

Newly available data demonstrates the enormous benefit of distributed solar power to all utility customers across New England. From 2014 to 2019, small-scale solar in New England saved utilities and their customers more than $1.1 billion, according to a report by Synapse Economics. Notably, these savings were enjoyed not only by people who own solar panels, but by everyone who relies on a utility company for their electricity.

In July 2020, ISO New England, the regional grid operator, published for the first time detailed data about the amount of electricity produced every hour by the thousands of small, local solar installations throughout the region. Analyzing this data, a new report from Synapse Economics reveals that local renewable energy sources produced 8,600 GWh of electricity, enough electricity to power more than 1 million New England households for a year.

The new report also shows just how much money local solar saves by reducing the total amount of pollution associated with our electricity usage. From 2014 to 2019, the clean electricity generated by the region’s small-scale solar resources reduced climate pollution by 4.6 million metric tons. This is the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road for one year.

In addition to reducing climate pollution, local solar also avoided the release of six million pounds of health-harming sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Avoiding the release of these pollutants yielded public health savings of $87 million.

Read the report here:

News item from Clean Energy New Hampshire

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Original Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2020/12/report-small-scale-solar-savings-new-england/