Joseph Sollecito, President, Municipal Electric Association of Massachusetts
In an interview with Invest:, Joseph Sollecito, president of the Municipal Electric Association of Massachusetts (MEAM), highlighted the organization’s role in supporting 40 municipal, publicly-owned electric utilities across the state. He emphasized MEAM’s initiatives in offshore wind and solar projects, battery storage systems, and its contribution to Massachusetts’ 2050 net-zero goals.
What is the objective of the Municipal Electric Association?
MEAM, established in the early 1940s, comprises all municipal, publicly-owned electric utilities in Massachusetts — 40 in total. As a not-for-profit organization, public power allows us to offer lower rates and reinvest any earnings into infrastructure development and programs. This benefits businesses, especially those in manufacturing, by reducing their overhead and operating costs. We focus on high reliability with quick response times, ensuring minimal outages and quick restoration. MEAM provides support through legislation, collaboration, conferences, training, and education, and as an organization, we helped draft the state’s 2050 net-zero plan for publically power utilities. We also work collaboratively with other agencies like the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) and Energy New England (ENE), as well as the New England Public Power Association (NEPPA).
What is the difference between investor-owned utilities and public power utilities?
Public power entities are locally controlled, while investor-owned utilities serve about 80-85% of Massachusetts. The 40 municipal publicly-owned utilities cover the remaining 15-20%. The cost of electricity delivery is roughly half of what public power utilities charge for the same electricity. In most cases, an industrial customer spending $100,000 a month with an investor-owned utility would spend less than $50,000 with a public power utility. Local control means our ratepayers are the owners, not investors, so all revenue goes back to its rate payers and the community it serves. This ensures we can quickly address customer needs and support local businesses, maintaining a strong local economy.
What have been some successful initiatives or projects that have benefited your members and municipalities?
There are several initiatives we are proud of but one that is soon to come is ‘Off-Shore’ wind, where we are well positioned to purchase wind energy once state contracts with developers are finalized. In previous years we have also led numerous solar and hydro projects accepted by municipal light plants, driven by customer demand. For example in Wakefield, a microgrid project with rooftop solar and a 5 MW battery storage system eliminates the need for backup diesel generation, making the grid self-sustaining and all-renewable. Another significant project is multi-utility investment in a 6.9 MW solar array in western Massachusetts, the largest publicly-owned solar array in the state, providing environmental benefits directly to ratepayers. Sterling Municipal Light Plant pioneered a utility-scale battery storage project in 2016. Finally, one public power community (Ipswich) has recently developed an innovative on-bill tariff technology for heat pumps, benefiting low-income households and leased facilities, ensuring long-term investment stays with the property.
How does MEAM engage with local communities to support their needs and promote sustainable energy practices?
Municipal Light Plants (MLPs) have developed peak demand programs to incentivize consumers to reduce usage during high-demand periods. This includes installing battery storage units and other measures, benefiting the entire region. Our Connected Homes program controls around 1,200 devices, including thermostats, EV chargers, and battery storage units, helping manage peak usage and avoid high capacity costs. Many also have invested in ‘behind the meter’ peaking generation to offset high costs. This has enabled the utility and its customers to payback the investment through capacity market savings in a very short time frame. Public power reacts quickly to market changes and innovates to keep costs down, delivering electricity at lower prices.
Are there any legislative developments that might impact your sector?
Since the late 1990s, legislation has protected municipal utilities service territory. We can’t serve outside our territory without agreement, and investor utilities can’t serve our customers within our territory. MEAM ensures we have a strong collective voice at the state level to maintain local control. We work with the state to meet its carbon-neutral goals by 2050, collaborating on legislation that fits our unique position. Our performance and rates are consistently excellent, making it very difficult for anyone to argue against our approach. We aim to meet state goals while maintaining local control, and MEAM plays a crucial role in this.
What’s your outlook for the sector, and what are the top priorities for MEAM over the next two to three years?
The industry is evolving rapidly. Our goal is to support each municipal light plant in Massachusetts. We’re focused on electrifying Massachusetts, which will increase our business markets as more people use electricity for heating and electric vehicles. To achieve this, we need to invest in transmission projects, upgrade our substations and distribution infrastructure. All MLPs are developing long-term capital plans to ensure we can meet future demand. By 2050, we aim to help the state achieve its net-zero goals, meaning our infrastructure must support increased electricity usage. We work closely with partners to address these challenges. Political goals for electrification and reducing carbon footprints are ambitious, but our current technology and infrastructure isn’t fully prepared for this shift yet. Significant upgrades are needed throughout the electrical grid system. Wind and solar power are crucial non-carbon emitting resources, however these are intermittent in nature and can’t always provide continuous power. Technologies like ‘Batter Storage’ is also a key resource but has limitations to its capability. Finally, we face an immediate challenge with the availability of essential equipment like transformers. This is a big concern for all utilities, since procurement times have increased significantly. Our priority is to push for prudent, effective growth that matches our technological capabilities and resource availability.
